


Here's the Thing

by captain_smthg



Category: One Piece
Genre: Also Luffy's very stupid here, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Demon/Human Relationships, I hate Law, Law's a douchebag, M/M, Redemption, Science Fiction & Fantasy, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, but he's a cutie, let's forgive him, oh gosh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 08:38:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16364558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captain_smthg/pseuds/captain_smthg
Summary: Law, a demon, started to feel sympathy for the young, depressed boy Luffy. Wonder where that will lead to? Only one way to find out.





	1. How it Started

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Saw this prompt on Tumblr and it won't make sleep if I didn't do this. Harhar. And I'll reveal the prompt at the end :)

In his 1000-something-years of existence, not once did Law regret anything he did. Never. Except leaving his sister's side when she needed him the most. But that's another story.

The thing is, after losing his family and his adoptive father Rosinante to a series of tragedies, Trafalgar D. Water Law become unhinged. He committed murders to avenge his loved ones deaths and he committed some more because he felt like it, which is almost all of the time when people annoy him. And he is easy to annoy, too. Needless to say, the amount of murders he committed in cold blood guaranteed him a one-way sure ticket to hell.

As if that was not enough, the list of sins Trafalgar Law committed did not stop there. Oh, no. Aside from murdering people, he made it his habit in his free time to fuck unsuspecting women, young and old, as long as they're married, then tell their husbands about the deed, just for the sake of it. Because hey, it's always fun to see the husband's faces and reactions upon learning that their beloved wife engaged in act of sex with some nameless stranger. Cute, right?

It did not stop there, of course. He participated in selling drugs to young people and joined terrorist groups. He also happens to be knowledgeable about medicines and human body so he made sure to create viruses and spread it from city to city, to the rich and to the poor. He does not discriminate, at least.

What's more? He lures people to him, both sexes, then sold them to slavers. Because, what the fuck? He enjoy seeing people to suffer.

And did he mention he pretends to be a religious leader and blasphemes every God he know and create division by doing so?

It is because of all of this things that Law became a demon in the afterlife. Yes. A demon. Enemies of the Angels. Fantastic right? How fitting. Before, he does not believe in all of this supernatural crap and afterlife, so imagine his surprise when he woke up in Hell and someone told him he's a demon.

At first, Law couldn't believe it. Dismissed it all as mere hallucination. However, as time passed, he slowly learned and accept the fact that there is an afterlife and well, he's a demon.

After the acceptance, Law's next struggle is finding his family. No. He did not believe they're gonna be demons like him, nor Lammie or Corazon. What he's terrified of is them finding out how he turned out to be. But still, he did not regret anything, or repent for his sins. So as a defense mechanism, he convinced himself that it's their fault of how he turned out for leaving him alone.

And now, for Satan-knows-how-long, Law's been infesting humans and messing up their lives because that's what he do best, creating messes. There's a bonus if he managed to turned the human to their side. So when he's told he's gonna be on another assignment, he just shrugged and act like it's no big deal. Because for him, it really is. It's all the same. Just another human that he had to mess up and he'll soon forgot as long as the objective's been achieved.

How wrong he was.

•••

Luffy, Ace and Sabo lives a normal life. Not overly rich, not overly poor, either. Just enough to live day by day and if they struggle to make ends meet sometimes, at least they will still have each other and that is what matters anyway.

The truth is, even if they call each other "brothers", they're not really blood related. From what Luffy could understand, Sabo came from the family of a rich businessman in their town, while Ace is a bastard of some foreign monarch and Luffy, well he's another story.

As far as he know, he is an orphan. He grew up with his war veteran grand father who is very strict that Luffy decided to ran away. He find himself lost in the middle of a big city, hungry and homeless. For once, he missed his grand father and wished to be back home with him. But its too late. He's lost and he had no doubt his grand father won't bother with finding Luffy. Still, he tried to find his way back to home. And he did. But his grand father, after the stunt he pulled, refused him and dumped him to another relative, Dadan.

Dadan is not horrible, either. But she would always shout at Luffy too and complain about him. Luffy ignore it and when Dadan's really mad at him, Luffy would entertain himself to the beach and stay there as he deem it necessary until Dadan cools down.

That's where he met Ace and Sabo. He befriended Ace but the older male refused him. Luffy didn't care, of course. He's his own man and he do what he wants and what he wants is to be friends with Ace. Soon enough, he met Sabo and the three of them swear an oath of brotherhood. They've been brothers ever since and when Luffy turned 18, he moved into the city with Ace and Sabo.

That's where he met Zoro. It had been a funny story really. Someone tried to trick Zoro that almost led to his death and Luffy had helped him. Had it been not for Luffy. Zoro would've died. After that, they've been bestfriends.

Nami came after Zoro. Nami is a snatcher and she happened to snatched Zoro's wallet. Zoro and Luffy ran after her, not for the money but the keychain on the wallet, which is given by Zoro's late childhood bestfriend. They forgive Nami and beat up the guys that forced Nami to do it.

Their group continued to expand in the following months. Soon, there is also Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Brook, Robin and Franky. They had age difference and varying interests and habits. They also came from different social class but that did not stop them to create a strong bond with each other. Sure, there are times when one of them would try to leave the group but since they are this one big family, they refuse and fight to hold on. Luffy can even tell that Zoro and Sanji, who always fights, cares for each other deep, deep down. If you dig deep enough, of course.

Ace and Sabo created their own group, too. And Luffy saw they are happy like him. He couldn't ask for more.

How wrong he was.

•••

Sabo works as a waiter at a cruise ship and Luffy thinks nothing could be more cool than earning money while travelling the sea. Even though Sabo's work required him to be away a lot, Luffy didn't mind. He wants Sabo to enjoy his adventure, anyway. So when Sabo left again to sail, Luffy did not stop him even though a voice whispered somewhere in his soul to stop Sabo.

How he wished he listened to that voice. Because now, no Sabo would return. Apparently, a suicide bomber boarded the cruise ship and in the middle of the voyage, the man decided he had enough sailing and proceeded to take out a bomb and the cruise ship exploded in the sea. Killing the passengers and some waiters, one of which is Sabo.

Ace had been mad. Real mad. He throw a tantrum and destroyed furnitures. He also burned the compensatory money the company Sabo works for sent them because he said he doesn't want their money. Ace disappeared months after that, leaving Luffy worried for his last brother, only to reappear much, much later and declaring he's moving out because he can't stand being in this shared house that reminds him so much of Sabo. And even though it pains Luffy, he let Ace go and moved on. Ace drops by for a visit sometimes and Luffy appreciates it.

To cheer him up, Luffy's friends organized this out of town trip for them and Luffy enjoyed it immensely. They've gone for this fancy-ass resort and Sanji drooled over every girl in sight. Chopper visited some medicinal saunas with Robin. Nami had gone to see the bazaars clustered along the beach and Franky and Usopp tested out this new machine they invented at the water while Zoro and Brook accompanied Luffy at the food stalls.

If only he''d known that will be the last trip he'd had with his friends.

It happened really fast, seriously. Luffy can't remember much of it because it felt like a dream, or a nightmare. They spent three good days at the resort but it's time to go back and face the reality that is their jobs awaiting in the city. Luffy decided it's been a nice day. The weather's nice, the sun is bright, the sky is blue and the wind is cool. Luffy boarded the van with his friends and together, they belt through every songs that played in the radio until-

A crash. A car collided in their back which made them hit the bus in the front. As a result, their van had been sandwiched between the car and the bus. The accident instantly killed all of his friends, leaving him the sole survivor. Luffy did not know if he should be happy he's alive because he don't want to leave Ace so soon after Sabo or he should be sad because, well all of them died.

Ace temporarily moved in to their house again after the accident. Luffy had been glad because he's not sure how to deal with the loss. Ideas that maybe he brings bad luck to people in his life started to sprout from his mind but Luffy dismissed it. It's an accident. It happens.

Still, Luffy was not able to silence that one voice at the back of his mind that tragedies tend to happen with people around him.

•••

Luffy is at work when he received the news about his grand father and he immediately went to Dadan's to pay his respects. So it's true, his grand father finally kick the bucket. In the funeral, Dadan had told him that Garp's last words were "I'm sorry, Luffy." Luffy felt sad because of that because if his grand father meant dumping him to Dadan, then Luffy didn't mind. In fact if he hadn't done that, he wouldn't have met Ace or Sabo. Then he wouldn't have move to the city and meet his friends. Although only one of the mentioned remains alive.

While standing at the middle of the graveyard in the pouring rain at the front of his grand father's gravestone, Luffy can't help but think that he is slowly starting to lose the people in his life.

•••

First it was Sabo.

Next it's his friends.

Then his grand father.

And now... it's Ace.

It's enough. Luffy can't take it anymore. He wants to die.

•••

A few months later after his grand father's burial, Luffy met Ace at a nearby cafe from Ace's house. Ace had told him that he and his girlfriend Bonney is expecting a baby and Luffy can't believe it. His brother? A father? Luffy laughed.

While talking, Luffy watched Ace speak animatedly about his plans with Bonney and the baby. Luffy smiled as he noticed that his brother is finally genuinely happy again. Luffy saw it with the twinkle in his eyes, a deep-belly laugh, and the wild hand gestures. And while Luffy can't say the same thing about him, he knows that at least he needs to be happy for Ace. In addition, he's going to be an uncle sooner. 

During their conversation, they did not notice a suspicious man entered the establishment. He asked for all the money in the cash register and demanded a hostage. He grabbed a little girl who cried and because of the loud voice of the girl, the man decided he'd just take a different hostage and end the girl. Luffy sprung to action as soon as the man pointed his gun at the girl. He pummelled the man into the floor and apparently, the man arrived with a companion and pointed his gun to Luffy.

Luffy turned around slowly and saw the man pull the trigger as if in slow motion. Luffy held his breath and closed his eyes, accepting death. He may have heard Ace around somewhere shouted "Luffy!" then a loud boom reverberated all over the room.

He waited for the bullet's impact that never came and Luffy opened his eyes. What he saw paralyze him. Because there, standing in front him, is Ace, back turned to him, facing the criminal and Luffy's eyes followed droplets of blood falling on the floor. Then, in agonizingly pace, Ace's body slid to the floor and sirens blared through the air. He scrammed to get to Ace's body and held his brother's head. Shaking, he searched Ace's face for any signs of life but found none. Then, whispering while wiping the flow of tears in his face, he called his brother's name over and over again. "Ace..."

"Aceeee..."

"Ace!"

Finally, Luffy stopped wiping his tears and hugged his brother's body. "ACEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs.

The next thing he knew, black clouded his vision and Luffy fell to the ground.


	2. Where the Light Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Law's happy that after all his efforts, he finally managed to break Luffy. Or... not? Law's not so sure anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks for reading this :) Hope you're having a nice day :)

The smell of antiseptic and antibiotics is strong in the air. A beeping sound could be heard somewhere and white walls surrounded Luffy. He slowly opened his eyes, his head feels so fuzzy and his breathing came in slow pace. He pushed himself up the bed and noticed that tubes are connected at his wrist. The disorientation feels so strong and he looked around for nothing in particular, just feeling that he should hold on for something.

When he finally gained enough wits about him, Luffy realized he is in a hospital. But why? He closed his eyes and strained his mind to remember why he is in a hospital.

Memories suddenly flooded his mind. An image of a gun pointed to his face, a finger is slowly pulling the trigger, Ace's shout of "Luffy!" and...

Ace being shot and falling in his arms.

Ace being dead.

Ace.

Ace...

Ace who is going to be a father, who had been a good brother to him, who makes sure he and Sabo is happy always, who despite Luffy's shortcomings still loved him unconditionally, who deserves to live and be happy more than anyone else he know, who...

Throw away his future with his family to save Luffy...

He take all of that away from Ace. Luffy is useless.

It's all his fault.

Then suddenly, the still air around him turned cold and Luffy wrapped his arms him. Because there is no Sabo to hug him, or any of his friends to make him smile, or his Gramps even to scold him for his recklessness, or Ace...

"Ace..." Luffy called out in the nothingness, refusing to believe his reality.

"ACE!! Where are you!?" He called out again, this time in panic.

" WHERE IS ACEEEEEEEEEEEEE!?!?!?" Luffy shouted then proceeded to yank away all the tube in his arms, barely registering the pain from doing so, blinded by rage, frustration, panic and confusion. He jumped from the bed and like an animal chasing his prey blindly in the wild, Luffy raced down the halls of the hospital, knocking everyone on his way, and destroying things, in his search of a brother who's gone and he will no longer see.

"ACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Luffy shouted like a madman, or maybe he already is. He didn't really care, all he wants is to find Ace.

He did not know what really happened next, as he is dazed in pain that has nothing to do with bruises that covered his face. Some people might have stopped him but he threw them all off. Just that the next thing he know, he registered something tingly pokes his skin at the elbow and unconsciousness wrapped him again.

•••

For the second time, Luffy wake up to a beeping sound, to the smell of antiseptics around him and the white walls of the hospital. However, unlike the first time, Luffy is immediately aware of everything and moved to get up only to be stopped by straps in his bed. Fucking great. Is this even legal? Luffy wondered.

"ACE!?" He shouted. Tears already streaming down his face.

"Ace!?!?" He shouted again. Nothing.

"ACEEEEEEEE!!!!!" He called out at the top of his lungs.

A nurse came bursting into the room, holding a clipboard in her hand. The nurse approached him and said in a calm voice and a firm look on her face "Mr. Monkey D. Luffy, I need you to calm down first and-"

"Ace...Ace. Where is Ace!?" Luffy interrupted.

The firm look slipped from the nurse's face to be replaced by a heart broken expression. Luffy cursed and thrashed from the straps bounding him. The nurse came to put a hand on his arm but Luffy jerked it away from him. The girl sighed and said in a soft voice "Please Mr. You have to calm down. I don't want to sedate you."

"B-b-but-" Luffy sputtered but the nurse just gave him a pleading look. That at least managed to make Luffy forced himself to calm down. The nurse smiled gratefully.

"I have to check your vitals and then I'll report to the station. After that, I'll come back and explain everything to you. Can I trust you to wait for me?" The nurse said smiling. Luffy nodded numbly and just ask if she can at least removed the straps. The nurse shook her head sadly and said something about 'precautionary measures'. Luffy tuned her out after that until he heard the click of the door.

•••

Law smiled when Luffy wake up and get wild at the halls of the hospital. He cackled gleefully when the male threw off six or seven of the hospital staffs clinging to his shoulder in order to stop him. He rejoiced in seeing the pure rage at Luffy's eyes and he felt proud of himself at successfully breaking him. Nothing completes his day than witnessing poor, unsuspecting and pure souls into madness. He smirked.

When Law received the assignment, he expected it's going to be an easy one. That proved to be wrong when numerous attempts at breaking Luffy failed. He destroyed Luffy's work so he could be fired by the employer but the boy just bounced back and found another work. And another. And another. Until Law decided to switched strategy.

His next plan had been to make his friends fought each other and co-workers to hate Luffy and he expected that will bring Luffy down. Of course it failed again, because obviously, the boy is charismatic and oozing with self-confidence and optimism he can't help but draw all good things around him that even Law had to admit he's not immune to it.

In the few more months to come, he watched as Luffy helped people and made everyone around him happy. That really irked him to no end. He'd never seen someone as pure as this young man and Law started to doubt his capability to break this human.

Until his demon friend, Kidd, suggested something.

If his strength is coming from the people around him, then to break him, Law needed to take that away.

And really, it's not hard to figure out Luffy's strength.

His first target had been Sabo. He whispered in a suicidal stranger's ear to board a particular cruise ship and kill himself there. Law figured Sabo would help to diffuse the situation and get near the man. And he's right. Sabo disappeared from Luffy's life.

When Law saw Luffy being sad for a long time, he cheered in his triumph. He whispered thoughts in Luffy's ear, thoughts the young man wouldn't normally allow himself to think, but he's vulnerable and to add icing to the cake, Ace left Luffy. How nice. Then he saw Luffy's energy started to deplete but not enough.

Then Law learned Luffy's friends plan to get out of town to cheer Luffy up. Law immediately saw the opportunity and to make it more cruel, Law did it after their trip. When Luffy thought nothing could go wrong anymore. He saw how devastated Luffy was but still remained pure and awfully nice to everyone. Remained to be a bright, beautiful sunshine to people around him. Law frowned.

Garp, Luffy's biological grand father, has been sick for a while. Law decided to exploit this and kill the old man. And as Luffy stand in front of his grand father's grave, he watched as Luffy cried silently. But still determined to live and be strong. He saw the optimism shine out of Luffy and Law felt hopeless to accomplished this mission. However, Law's not the one to give up. He'd let things cool down for a while before making a move again.

And for the following months, he saw how Luffy smiled and laughed despite the pain. He saw how Luffy still made an effort to make people smile and how strong he made himself for Ace. He also saw how Luffy find happiness at small little things such as trying out different ice cream flavors, at the blue sky, at feeling the cold wind hitting his face, at cleaning his house even.

Something deep stirred in Law's chest. FEELINGS. He thought. Emotions that he thought banished from his being a long, long time ago. Among them is envy. Envy that despite all the tragedies in Luffy's life, he emerged victorious, scratched but still intact. Another is wonderment. Wonderment at how Luffy did all that. However, Law knew better. He'd encountered people like Luffy before. And he knows it's not healthy. To ignore your problems and pretend you're okay will only lead to bigger problems later. And sooner or later, he knows that everything will catch up to Luffy.

And no, Law is not worried. He's fucking not.

•••

Law saw it. The last thread to Luffy's insanity.

Ace.

He watched as the two brothers greeted and hugged each other. In spite of himself, he was quickly reminded of Lamie. Of what their future could have been. But Law immediately shook himself from those thoughts. He promised himself a long time ago not to go down road. Besides, she, their parents, and Corazon is probably happy even without him up there in the land of rainbows and sunshines with Big G, Virgin Momma and Baby J.

And him? Don't worry, he's perfectly happy here, fuck you very much.

He came back to reality and smirked as the angel beside him glanced worriedly at Luffy, the angel's eyes shifting to his direction every now and then. The blue-haired angel breathed deeply and turned to him. "Don't you think it's enough?"

Law widened his eyes innocently which is belied by the smirk in his lips. He looked the angel in the eye and chuckled. "I beg your pardon, Miss Vivi?"

The angel stared at him determinedly. "Don't you ever get tired of doing this?"

He let out a laugh. Of all of his demon career, he'd encountered Vivi and he knows how broken her heart becomes whenever she fails to save her ward. In fact, he and Vivi had been paired up before to do the same game and well, sometimes Vivi won, sometimes victory is on his side. So he find it funny that after all this time, Vivi asked him that question. "Uhm, do I look like it? No? Then I think you know the answer."

Vivi chose to just sighed and looked at her ward. Sometimes, Law wonders how come angels don't get angry. Not even the righteous kind of anger. No, nothing at all. After a while, Vivi addressed him again. "You know, I've been watching him all his life. He's nothing like my other wards in the past. In fact, I think I won't be surprised if Luffy turned to an angel in his afterlife. Luffy's optimism is sometimes a bit weird even. I know it's wrong to compare my past wards and Luffy, but I can't help it. So you know, I'm determined to win this time, Trafalgar Law. I won't let you harm him."

He stared at the angel and did not doubt her words. Law, as he already said, had known the angel for a long time and she had never spoken to him like this before. In fact, Law assumed this conversation to be the longest he had with the angel. Too bad Law received that as a challenge and make him all the more determined instead.

They both saw in time as two men entered the shop and the two brothers remained ignorant of this. A hostage taking has taken place and Luffy sprung into action. Luffy punched the living daylights out of one man and did not notice as another pointed a gun towards him. Ace received the bullet for Luffy and died on the spot. Luffy fell into shock and awoke a few days later.

When Luffy wake up, he stand by as Vivi murmured encouragement frantically in Luffy's deaf ears. He smirked at the scene and chuckled that turned into a roar of laughter. He called out to the angel just before she followed the human that went berserk. "So much for the determination to win, Miss Vivi!"

The angel ignored him and run after her ward.

•••

When Luffy is ushered into the room, to say he's stunned would be an understatement. He expected the angel to follow after the unconscious Luffy but no angel is in sight. He remembered watching the commotion in the hall, the angel screaming to be heard, then he get inside the room. He checked outside just to see if the angel is moping around but found none. He almost called out to Vivi but stopped himself.

Why the fuck would he do that? The angel's absence would only serve to make his mission easier.

Luffy wake up again and called out for Ace again. A nurse came in and calmed Luffy down. Law leaned on the wall as the silence stretched in the room. He thought he had failed again until Luffy cried.

Law startled at the sound. No, not because he never saw people cry before. It's because of the...effect of the sound has on him. It...broke his heart? If he still had one, at least.

He listened to Luffy cry and for some reason, he felt miserable hearing it. He wanted to stop Luffy but what the fuck. He's a fucking demon. To calm crying human's is an angel's job. And the reminder of the missing-in-action blue-haired angel irritated Law. What the hell?

However, Law thought that Luffy will soon get a grip of himself so he ignored the sounds with all of his might and instead choose to distract himself with speculations of sins Luffy will commit.

•••

THIS.IS.NOT.WHAT.HE.EXPECTED.

What he expected is a deranged Luffy. A Luffy that carries hates into the every fiber of his being. Luffy that seeks to destroy everything. Luffy that will make people suffer as much as he did.

Hell, he even thought that maybe Luffy will bounced back again, proving Law wrong once again.

Anything but this.

A Luffy that is depressed. A Luffy who has lost hope. A Luffy who no longer even have the energy to move. A Luffy that waits to miraculously die. A Luffy who did not eat, sleep or even go to work. A Luffy who did not fight back when Bonney accused him of killing Ace and taking him away from his child and Bonney. A Luffy who did not even feel anger or remorse. A Luffy who feels nothing. A Luffy that is empty.

Bags are lined under Luffy's eyes that would make Law look completely awake if they were put to stand beside each other. Luffy also looks so goddamn malnourished he's literally skin and bones. The last time he saw Luffy drank water was back when Bonney picked up a glass of water and threw the contents at him. As a matter of fact, he wonders how on earth is Luffy still alive without drinking water for a week. How is that even possible? 

Luffy moved out of his apartment after a visit from Dadan. The old woman forced Luffy to eat and almost dragged Luffy to her place. The younger man lied and said he'll come with her next time. He watched as Luffy said it with a straight face that even Law believed it. However. Luffy packed what he can that day as soon as Dadan left and moved out of the apartment. That is when Law realized Luffy is isolating himself.

•••

Few more weeks have passed and Luffy's still not moving from his spot. Not even when he had to pee. Which rarely happen now since Luffy's not consuming anything at all. Through all that, he just stood there and watched, never bothering with tempting Luffy to do something, knowing it would be useless because Luffy would not move, not even an inch.

He looked long and hard at Luffy. Trying to figure out what to do next. He did not even know if this is his victory or not. Then he saw it. That look on Luffy's face. It is resigned. He then realized that Luffy's seriously awaiting for his death.

He breathed sharply. The fact hit him like a hammer to his face.

Then, losing awareness with what he is doing, he went to the kitchen and grabbed a bucket, filling it with cold water. He stood in front of Luffy then threw it on his face.

Law saw Luffy jumped from the bed and looked around. Law breathed a sigh of relief. And before he can stop himself, he materialized in front of Luffy.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

•••

Luffy stared at the man before him who materialized out of thin air. He rubbed his eyes, sure that his eyes are playing tricks on him. When the apparition did not disappear, Luffy dismissed it as his mind now officially fucked.

He sighed and lie on his bed again. Ignoring the sheets now wet with cold water and closed his eyes. He sensed that apparition is still there and staring at him with concern in his eyes. Luffy smiled to himself.

He heard something shuffle in the room and-

SPLASH!

Cold water hit his body again and his mind reeled into a stop.

Delusions did not just throw a bucketful of water at you that feels so real.

His jaw dropped open and scrambled up from the bed. Meeting the gold eyes of the stranger. Luffy take in the details of the man's face. The angular jaw, the deep haunting golden eyes, the thin lips set into a frown and the goatee.

His eyes moved to the man's body now. He stared at the tattoos covering the man's chest, the chiseled abs, the broad shoulders and the... was that wings?

Luffy's eyes widened and he looked up to meet the man's eyes again. He gaze shifted to the black feathers again and to the man's eyes before whispering "You have wings."

"Yes."

"On your body." Luffy whispered again.

"No, in the closet. Of course they're in my body! It's kinda part of the whole demon thing." The stranger deadpanned.

Luffy just stared at him for a few seconds before something clicked in his mind. "W-w-what do you mean by 'demon thing'?"

The man smirked. "What do you think?"

He gasped. "A-a-are you a..... Do you mean that you're..... W-w-what are you..." then Luffy blacked out, his mind going into shock, unable to comprehend the truth.

•••

Luffy opened his eyes and is vaguely aware of the fresh scent of his bedsheets. The air smells cleaner, too and he also feel a little light somehow. He looked around and his suspicions is confirmed when he noticed his house cleaner. He immediately stood up and stand in front of the mirror, seeing clean clothes on his body.

He wondered who did that and his first thought is Dadan until he remembered the...demon? from earlier. As if on cue, he heard a deep masculine voice behind him. "You're awake."

Luffy turned around and stared at the stranger. Confused. If he is a demon like what he said, then why...?

A delicious smell teased Luffy's nostrils. He closed his eyes and breathed in the smell but stopped himself as he remembered something. "W-wait! If you are what you said are, then I'm teling you, I'm not going to fall for this! I know what you're trying to do, you are... YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE ME SELL MY SOUL TO YOU!" Luffy said while pointing his finger in Law's direction.

The demon rolled his eyes. "First of all, I'm not trying to do that. Second, I won't do that because it's old-fashioned. I could just make you commit sins if I wanted your soul. Third, it's not even my food because it came from your refrigerator."

"Then, why...?" Luffy asked, tilting his head to the side.

"I just did it on the spur of the moment, if kindness makes you uncomfortable, shall I make up a reason?" The man said, crossing his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ACTUALLY LIED. LOLS. THERE'S ONE MORE CHAPTER.  
> And also, shout out to the "promptsforthestrugglingwriter" for the dialogue about wings. I changed the faerie to demon. Hahahaha.  
> Disclaimer: One Piece or its characters is not mine. It belongs to Oda. Etc.


	3. Bad Romance

Luffy stared. A million questions running through his mind.

He felt his mind spinning again and his legs turning to jelly. Whether from malnourishment or the fact that a _demon_ is in front of him, face to face, all flesh and bones, he had no idea. Maybe from the combination of both. And what did he say again? _Kindness?_

Since when did demons went around and started helping people? Did Luffy miss something?

He looked at his bed, now covered with fresh bed sheets, then to his room that smells clean and looks neat, and to his own body, that is totally clean and definitely smells like soap. Did...did this demon just really helped him?

Is this for real or just his mind playing tricks on him?

He glanced at the demon again. This time, Luffy take his time watching the demon. He now saw the bags lining under it's eye. He also noticed the sideburns in it's face. He looked at those lips set in straight line and his eyes moved to looked at the ears adorned by golden earrings a little bit similar to Zoro's. His gaze moved from the ears to the strong neck then to it's chest. Chest covered by tattoos he noticed earlier when he woke up. The blank ink stood vivid against the tan skin and the swirls that formed to a heart at the center. The tattoo goes to the shoulders and the arms and to it's hand. His eyes goes back to the chest trailing down to the abdomen and to the V on the...

Luffy stopped right there and looked up to meet the demon's gaze. All the while Luffy's scrunity to it's body, Law remained silent. After all, it should be fair, seeing Law himself had taken a look at the unconscious Luffy while he's giving a bath to the younger man.

"What's your name?" Luffy asked after a moment of looking into his eyes.

Law smirked and crossed his arms before clucking his tongue. "I don't think I should tell you that."

"Why?" Luffy asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Someone knowing my name would give that person power over me."

At that, Luffy just shrugged knowing this topic would get them nowhere. Luffy turned to walk towards his bed again and lied there. The demon frowned and moved to stand in front him. Luffy rolled over and faced his side, energy already spent from just standing and talking. Law summoned a bucketful of cold water, about to throw the contents at the figure lying on the bed before Luffy's voice interrupted him.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Luffy said in a small voice then gave out a loud sigh. He waited for an answer and a cold water at the same time but none came. When Luffy turned to look in front of him, it was to find a blank space where a demon should have been.

•••

Luffy remained lifeless again for the next few days. He just lied there on the bed and is back to not moving and just staring at the ceiling. Law frustrated watched the human for five days now and he's really considering to go back in Hell.

But no, as far as he is concerned, although beaten by life, Luffy remains pure. If he let Luffy die or if Law went back to hell, the end result will be the same. Luffy's going to become an angel in the afterlife. Then the next time he'll saw Vivi, the angel would no doubt laugh at him and tell the whole supernatural world how big of a shit he was, failing to turn one tiny alone human without an angel to a demon. Not that Vivi would actually do that anyway.

Well, _fuck_.

Law racked his brains for ideas. His plans had never failed before and he can't just go back in Hell in now. That would be admitting defeat. He needs to do something. Anything. Anything to turn Luffy into a demon.

He frowned and decided everything is enough for now. He'll stay away from Luffy temporarily, feeling like he needed space in order to think. In addition, he still had no idea what happened with Vivi and he felt like the angel is planning something.

•••

After a week, Law decided to come back to Luffy. With a new plan in his mind, he transported himself inside the younger male's room and is surprised to find the bed empty. His mouth hanged open and scenarios like maybe Luffy find a motivation to live life again invaded his mind. Horror enveloped him and is about to shout from anger when he heard a hacking sound from the kitchen.

His eyes widened into saucers to what he saw. Because in the ceiling, a rope is hanging and surrounds Luffy's neck. He smirked at that. Maybe he didn't need to do anything after all. As far as he know, suicide guarantees you to be trapped in the purgatory forever.

That is, until an idea hit his mind. An idea that would make his earlier plan easier.

He materialized in front of Luffy again and slashed the rope hanging at the ceiling using his one hand and the other to catch Luffy's body. Law looked at the man before him, searching for any sign of life and is relieved to see the slight rise and fall from Luffy's chest.

He stood up and entered the bathroom. Preparing to give a bath at Luffy again.

•••

Luffy gasped and clutched his neck, the feeling of ropes around his neck still fresh from his mind. He looked around and is astonished to find that he is in the bedroom again, with new fresh set of clothes on his body.

"Really? I take my eyes off of you for a second and then the next thing I know is you decided to hang yourself in the ceiling?"

Luffy looked at the open doorway of his room and was surprised to see the demon again.

"You're back." Luffy croaked. He grimaced. After not eating or drinking anything for weeks and wrapping a rope at his neck, he is not surprised to find his voice raspy.

"I never left. You just can't see me." Law said.

"W-why....?" Luffy tried to say but let his sentence hang in the air because the pain his throat felt like a bitch. Then, he saw a floating glass full of water coming towards him, no doubt being controlled by the demon who's flicking his finger into the air.

He accepted the water thankfully and take a sip. All the while, the demon stranger just watched him. He set down the glass in his bedside. The demon disappeared again.

Luffy massaged his head and is about to lie in his bed to stare at the ceiling all day, because obviously, his guardian demon decided to watch over him so he can't kill himself.

However, the demon entered a room again with a tray in his hand that holds a soup and a pitcher full of water. The aroma wafted around Luffy and he groaned.

"Eat." The demon said, placing the tray on his side.

Luffy ignored him, thinking that maybe the demon will stop if he did that.

"You know, I'll not hesitate to use my powers to make you eat." The demon said quietly. When Luffy turned to look at him, he saw the serious look on the demon's face and sat up, mumbling.

Seriously? What happened to hell for his demon to run around taking care of him?

Apparently, the demon can read his mind because the said demon chuckled out of nowhere. " _His?_ "

Luffy threw a sharp look at the demon. "That's not what I mean."

Instead of answering, the demon just chuckled and Luffy started toying with his soup, not really feeling the inclination to eat. At this, the demon's playfulness vanished to be replaced by irritation.

"I believe I told you to eat." The demon said, irritated.

"And I don't give a shit." Luffy retorted.

The demon stood up and Luffy saw anger flare up in the demon's eyes. And for the first time, Luffy saw how terrifying this demon is. Luffy immediately scooped up a spoonful of his soup and opened his mouth to eat it. However, in his haste, he forgot the soup is hot and he coughed, grabbing the glass and filling it with water to cool down his tongue. When he looked at the demon again, he is glad to see the demon's aura is back to cheerfulness again, trying to fight a smile creeping in at his clumsiness.

•••

The demon continued taking care of Luffy in the next few days. Luffy's starting to believe the demon is his guardian angel in disguise and for the first time in a long time, Luffy felt like he's not alone anymore. Not again.

They still don't talk much though. They would exchange a few sentences here and there but that's it. The demon would still not say his name and would disappear or, _you just can't see me_ as the demon would say, before materializing again to feed him.

One day, Luffy tried to talk with the demon again as the demon watched him eat.

"Do you want some?" Luffy offered. The demon merely stared at him as Luffy had predicted and slowly shake his head.

Luffy tried again. "Are you always half-naked?"

The demon's lips twitched a little.

Luffy take that as an encouragement. "You know, I feel so small around you. You're so tall."

A smile. Little. But he saw it, the demon actually smiled.

"Not that I'm gay or anything, but I think you're handsome." Luffy said.

At this, the little smile turned into a smirk. "I know."

He continued eating, content at getting a response. The silence settled around them and then, Luffy heard the demon speak, in a low voice. "My name's Trafalgar."

Luffy whipped his head so fast he might've gotten a whiplash and searched the demon's face for the truth. The demon meet his eyes and they stayed like that for a few moments before Luffy turned to eating again. When he finished, he looked up to meet the demon's eyes. "I don't think I've told you this before, and you probably know this, but my name's Luffy. Monkey D. Luffy."

The demon smiled at him. "You're right. I already did."

Then, the demon disappeared again.

•••

Luffy washed himself and cooked his own food. It had become a routine for the demon to visit and make sure he eats. He waited for the demon to appear. When Law appeared in his bedroom, Luffy immediately pull his hand and pushed him to sit in one of the chairs. He set two plates on the table and smiled widely at Law. He noticed the man stared and Luffy waved his hands in front of Law, who's totally frozen in his place.

"Torao~ Torao! Torao!?" Luffy said and Law jerked back.

Law stared down at his plate before muttering "I'm sorry." and disappeared into thin air.

Luffy stared open-mouthed at the space Law occupied seconds ago.

•••

Law is looking over at the soul's walking around aimlessly. Contrary to popular belief, Hell is not filled with fires or lava, that is the deepest part and a small portion of the Underworld. Mostly, it's just a dark mass of land filled with wandering lost souls. Occassionally, the place would erupt in chaos when a demon would decide to wreck havoc here. And now, he is standing at a cliff, watching over the lost souls, feeling lost as they are.

A familiar presence joined him but he did not turn around, already knowing who it is. "And what is Mr. Overthinker doing here?"

"Eustass, if you came here just to annoy me, then by all means, fuck off." Law said.

Eustass stand beside him, undeterred. "Any luck with your mission?"

And just like that, Law is quickly reminded of the thought he is avoiding all day.

_That smile_

He quickly shook his head.

"Something's troubling you?" Kidd asked, looking at him curiously.

Law waved his hand in the air. "Nothing of importance."

"Is it...about your human?"

_Yes_

"No. Fuck off." Law said then stood up.

•••

Law hasn't been around and the it's been three days already when Luffy last saw him. So to say Luffy's freaked out of his wits would be an understatement.

During Law's absence, Luffy had had time to think of his relationship with Law. He wondered were they consider as friends? What would make that about Luffy? Will he burn to ashes if he stepped inside the church? However, all this thinking disorients Luffy so he decided he'll just ask Law about it.

"You're not trying to jumped off of the roof trying to kill yourself again, are you?"

Luffy startled at the sound of Law's voice and turned around. He frowned. "Will you stop doing that?"

"What?" Law asked, rising an eyebrow.

"This!" Luffy said, frustrated waving his hand in Law's general direction.

He expected Law to roll his eyes and crossed his arms or to said something about Luffy to elaborate even though he clearly know what he means. Yet, Law just shrugged and disappear again. Luffy widened his eyes.

"Wait! Torao!" Luffy shouted, but no Torao materialized into thin air.

"Goddamnit! I know you're there!" Luffy said angrily.

"Torao!"

And, in his irritation, he stood up too fast and rolled over the edge. Luffy tried to heaved himself up but failed. He felt his hand slipping. He looked down and felt adrenaline surging through his blood. He tried to climb again. One of his hands totally lost grip and slipped off the edge, resulting in a laceration at his palm. And now, only one hand remains holding on.

Five fingers.

One slipped from the roof. "Help!"

Four.

His palm started sweating and his hold started to loosened.

Three.

"Torao!?" Luffy called out.

Two.

"GODDAMNIT! TORAO!"

One.

And he lost his grip on the edge.

But before he even dropped by an inch, a hand grasped his hand. He smiled in relief at the demon who is growling. "Who the fuck is Torao!?"

Luffy smiled even more. "You."

"It's Trafalgar."

"Torao!"

"Trafalgar."

"Torao!"

"Trafalgar!"

"Torao!?"

Law opened his mouth, probably to correct him again, but shut himself up and sighed deeply. He pulled Luffy up and demanded "What are you even doing here in the roof, anyway?"

"Thinking."

"What about?" Law asked, intrigued.

"Stuffs. Mostly about you." Luffy replied honestly.

Law remained silent at that and awkwardly shuffled his feet.

"Torao? How did you become a demon?" Luffy blurted. Law looked away.

"C'mon. Let's go inside. I'll fix you up." Law said and grabbed his good hand. Luffy looked at the hand that is bleeding and shrugged it off.

"Torao...?" Luffy asked, looking at the demon's eyes expectantly. At this, Law looked at Luffy in the eyes, cold and hard.

"I did a lot of bad things." Law said flatly.

"A lot of people did bad things." Luffy said, tilting his head.

"I did worse."

For a long time, Luffy just stared at Law, like trying to figure him out. And maybe he did.

And Law's scared because for some reason, he did not want Luffy to see him as he is. So he turned his back to Luffy, afraid of what Luffy might find.

He heard Luffy walked until the male's directly behind him. Law felt Luffy's hand snaking around his torso and he felt his heart beat fast.

Then, in a horrible realization, Law realized one thing.

He's _screwed_.

His plan backfired. He fell in _love_ with Luffy.

How did it happen?

_Fuck._

•••

Luffy hugged Law and he felt the demon stiffened. Luffy dismissed it as the demon's not used with physical affection, or any type of affection at all. So Luffy took it as responsibility to change that as much as he thinks Torao took responsibility of him.

"Torao..." Luffy said quietly, letting Law know if he did not want to hear Luffy speak, one signal and he'll shut up.

Silence.

Luffy continued. "You know, I've been thinking a lot this past few days... I think, I want to live, again. And you see, it's because of you. When I lost everyone, I lose all my reason to live. But you came, and forced me to live. And I realized, I'll give it a try again. For you. Thank you."

For a long time, Law remained still and silent Luffy thought he would not answer and maybe hide himself again. But after a while, Law turned to look at him and Luffy meet his eyes. Then, Law coughed to compose himself again and Luffy disentangled himself from Law.

"C'mon. Your hand needs to be fixed." Law said to him.

Luffy just smiled and whispered "Okay." then let Law to lead him inside again.

•••

He watched as the demon silently put bandages in his hand. Luffy watched in fascination as the dark creature in front of him moved its hand expertly to finish the task. He wondered whether the demon had some medical knowledge and thought of asking about it but remembered how any attempt of extracting information to the demon had failed.

"I used to be a doctor, I mean, back when I was a human. A surgeon to be exact." The demon said out of nowhere and Luffy scrunched up his eyebrows wondering how Torao did~

Of course, he's a mind reader. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"Will you stop using your powers on me?" Luffy half-scolded, half-demanded.

Torao did not answer however and finished fixing his hand. The demon paused and stared at his hand absently.

"Where have you been? Why did you leave me just like that?" Luffy asked gently, knowing gentleness is the way to bring the demon on the same page as him.

The dark man stood up and put away all the materials. When Law had also finished doing that, he disappeared in Luffy's sight again.

Is this how things are gonna be between them? Luffy wondered.

•••

_No, no, no, no, no, no. It can't be. It's too fast._

Law is back at the Underworld again, watching over the vast desolate plane. He jumped off of the cliff he's standing on and spread his wings, soaring through the air. The air feels empty on his face, just like everything on Hell.

"It's nothing. If anything, it's guilt." Law muttered under his breath.

He _can't_ be in love with Luffy. No, _goddamnit_

Then his mind flashed back to the day he first met Luffy. Luffy's in a house for the aged as a volunteer to take care of residents there. He watched as an old man hit Luffy with a cane but the young man just laughed it off. Law also remembered how he smiled as Luffy laughed because the young man's laugh was so contagious.

He quickly shook his head to stop himself of those toughts.

Unwillingly, his mind went to another memory of Luffy. It's the day one of his friends, Zoro, went lost in the university Robin, another friend, is working. The two have decided to pay their friend a visit and at the end, Robin and Luffy went looking for their green-haired friend. While searching, Luffy saw a student being bullied and punched the hell out of the bullies.

Another memory of Luffy fleeted in his mind. It was the day Luffy thought Sabo had died. He remembered as he smiled triumphantly as Luffy break down into tears. Vivi had hugged Luffy then, although the man is not aware of it.

By the end of those thoughts, Law had decided it's guilt he feels. Because he took everything away from Luffy.

And Luffy's smile definitely did not make him regret all that.

No, sir. NOT AT ALL.

•••

Luffy wiped off the table the last customers for the day left. He tiredly flexed his fingers and went back to the kitchen, bringing a tray of used plates and dirty utensils with him. When he entered the kitchen, he saw Zeff breathing down the neck of one young man. Zeff turned to look at his direction and Luffy smiled, which the old man had returned. Zeff had approached him as Luffy sets down the tray and put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's talk."

He followed the old man to the office, already knowing the agenda. And true to his suspicions, the old man talked to him about Sanji and what he's been up to for the past few months. Luffy had been nervous while answering because he did not really want to talk about Sanji nor about... his own activities.

While walking on the way to his apartment, he decided to drop by a grocery store and bought supplies. Luckily, Zeff had given him a one-month advance. In the middle of Luffy's midlife crisis deciding what to choose between chocolate or milk drink, he overheard two girls conversing on his side, making him turn his eyes on them interestingly.

One of them, a brunette, rolled her eyes at her fair-haired friend. "Really? You'll just accept him like that? I think the fact he's so secretive around you should already serve as a signal to your stupid-ass to run to the opposite direction as quick as possible."

The fair-haired hung her head low. "But he's nice to me always. I think it's already enough information about what kind of guy he is!"

"Gosh, are you for real? For all you know, he might just be acting like that to get something from you. For goodness sake, he's a goddamn thief!" The brunette said in distaste.

"Then what do you suppose I do? Bully him for answers?" The other girl snapped.

The brunette sighed and frowned, thinking. "How about... doing a background check in him on your own?'"

At this, the two girls reached an agreement and together, they'll search for answers about the guy they're talking about.

Which, Luffy realized, he should be doing as well. Torao may have been nice to him and all that, but he's still a demon.

"If you're there, then I'm telling you, I'm planning to do the same thing on you. I'll give you the respect you earned and if you don't want me to do that, stop me. If you don't give me an answer, I'll take your silence as a yes.

Silence.

And so, with a plan in mind, Luffy sprinted to the direction of the church.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIED AGAIN. THIS IS NOT THE END. HAHAHAHA.
> 
> I DIDN'T KNOW THIS WOULD BE LONG. HAHAHA.
> 
> I PROMISE NEXT CHAPTER WOULD BE THE LAST THOUGH.
> 
> I'm not sorry :P


	4. Tension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks. Unfortunately, I lied again. This is not the final chapter because when I kinda cut the scenes, it felt wrong somehow. So there's gonna be another chapter xD. Lols. But before everything, I want to thank everyone who take their time reading this and kudos and comments and all that! Ditching my college paper and final exams made you worth it.

Luffy knocked in the door at the side of the church, breathless. He had run to the church as fast as he can for he fear he might changed his mind if he slowed, afraid he will lose Torao if he found out some vital information. The door creaked and a nun opened the door. The nun looked at his appearance, disheveled and Luffy immediately grabbed the hands of the nun and said "Tell me who is the demon Trafalgar!"

The nun opened her mouth and squeezed his hand. "Are you okay, son? Is something the matter? Would you like to come in first for refreshments? You look like you rushed yourself getting here and might need to collect your wits before anything else."

Luffy quickly shook his head at that, torn between desperation and exhilaration from probing the unknown. "No! I don't. I need... I need to know who is the demon Trafalgar, please."

The nun gave him a long look and nodded at him. "Very well. But first, come in and we'll talk."

He looked at the inside uncertainly, afraid he will burn to ashes the moment he stepped inside the place and almost backed out but the nun put a hand on his shoulder and encouraged him. Luffy followed and he breathed a sigh of relief when he did not burn or anything.

Well, that was anti-climatic.

As they walk down the aisle, the nun started to speak. "You can call me sister Caroline. I'll bring you to the back first and I'll go and tell the priest your agenda to see whether we can do something for you. What's your name, son?"

They had reached the back and Luffy seated himself in one of the chairs. Luffy breathed and calmed his nerves. "My name is Luffy."

The nun nodded. "Okay, Luffy. Wait here while I call father Gerald okay?"

Luffy nodded. "Okay."

•••

Luffy walked silently in the dark sidewalk on the way to his house. His knees felt like jelly so he looked around for a corner to collapsed and hide. He debated whether he should find some other place to stay or to go back home, where Torao is waiting. He remembered how the nun had offered him to stay for a while but Luffy didn't want to take them down if the demon decided to go on a killing spree if Torao had been displeased.

Would Torao do that? Luffy felt guitly but on the other hand...

He leaned down on a wall and shakily slid down to the ground. Thunder cracked in the sky and he saw raindrops started to fall in the ground. He watched absently as people passed him by. A sob cracked in his throat and tears started to stream down on his face.

_Why?_

But Torao had been anything but mean to him. He is the one who took care of him. He's the one who pushed him on living again. He's not what the priest said he is. Torao is nice. Torao would never do that to him. Torao would...

He clutched the piece of jewelry under his chest the priest had given him before he departed from the church. He almost removed the cross necklace but a voice somewhere in the back of his mind whispered to let it stay there. Besides, it would be useful to him so Torao wouldn't be able to read his mind and that's the last thing Luffy needed if he faced with Torao again.

_He may be the reason for everything that's happened to you..._

The priest had said which the nun supported. Then they proceeded to present him cases of _victims_ of the demon ironically named _Law_. Victims which are supposed to be angels in the afterlife, then by breaking them, Law had managed to turn them to being a demon.

No. Luffy decided. There must be something wrong. The date the priest had presented him is dated 1987, which is long ago from now. And now, Torao's taking care of him, there must be something the priest failed to mention. In addition, Luffy's not the type to judge people based on their past. He'd trust Law.

He did not know the priest but he knows who is Torao.

Or did he really?

Deep in his thoughts, Luffy had failed to notice someone sneaked on his back. The man crouched down on Luffy's level and pointed a sharp blade on his neck. "Don't move."

Luffy stilled and held his breath. Suddenly, there were hands around his body, probably searching something of value. But the hand freeze then a loud crack emanated in the air out of nowhere, the sound of the neck snapping to the side. Luffy turned around just in time to see a tall outline in the shadows throwing a lifeless body to the side. Luffy squinted his eyes to make sure if it was horns that he's seeing when his eyes was almost forcefully torn to meet a red glowing eyes.

The shadow had grabbed him and when he opened his eyes again, he's back at his apartment. So much for second-guessing of going back or going away huh?

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING IN THERE, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!?" Law had shouted in his face as soon as his feet landed on the ground. However, Luffy had been too busy to stare at Law to flinch.

Because now, the tanned skin is decorated with runic scriptures and Law's face glows in unnatural light. His hair sways slowly as if the air loves to caress those raven strands. And now, two black protruding horns is visible in all of its glory. Luffy turned to look at the eyes of the demon again which glows with red at the sides and pupils dilated like that of a cat's.

Luffy forced himself to look at Law again and smiled. "So cool."

The demon widened its eyes and stepped back. It's features turned back to what Luffy is used to and asked "Where have you been?"

It was Luffy's turn to stepped back and to be surprised. "You...you didn't know?" Guilt had started to claw at his conscience, not trusting Torao who had saved him many times and proved himself over and over again.

At this, Law had look at him cautiously and said in a low tone at a slow pace. "No. I've been away."

Luffy's breathing had quickened and immediately felt guilty swallowing him whole. He thought Law had been there and gave him permission. But obviously, the demon had been away doing...what?

Luffy definitely needed to do something to know who he's been dealing with, including knowing what the demon did in his free time.

He stiffened his posture. "What did you do? Aren't you supposed to whisper things to my ear 24/7 and made me do bad things?"

Law rolled his eyes, his irritation from earlier had vanished from the sheer stupidity but definitely Luffy-ish statement. Because honestly, Luffy is right. "Yes. I should. But I realized you're too stubborn to listen so I think I should just give you an... incentive. You know, scratch my back and I'll scratch yours?." Then he flashed a conspiratorial grin at the small human.

He startled at the twinkle in the demon's eyes. He did not know what to think about that. In the end, Luffy judged Law's being playful right now and is not actually serious about incentive. He also seems like a child brimming at the edges to show him something important so he decided to humor him. "What incentive?"

The demon remained silent just to mess with him so Luffy crossed his arms impatiently. "Well?"

Torao had flashed him a smile before whispering excitedly. "Sabo's alive."

•••

Vivi watched Luffy, with Law on his heels, descend the stairs of the apartment and walked to the bus stop. She had learned through her connection to Luffy that Law's bringing Luffy to Sabo. She smiled at the two and turned to look at the other girl beside her. "I told you he'll fall for Luffy! The Principals had told me so."

The other girl frowned and did not say anything, believing just the opposite.

•••

"I can't believe it. I'm so excited, Torao! You're the best!" Luffy had exclaimed at the air beside him but the demon probably ignored him since he did not made any sound to acknowledge Luffy, never saying anything. Luffy had noticed the man had been silent and sulking ever since the other night. He also keeps appearing and vanishing ever since but Luffy kept his mouth shut about it, thinking he might upset Torao if he asked. And Luffy did not want to upset Torao right now.

•••

Law had been wondering ever since the other night why he can't read Luffy's mind anymore. He had been thinking his powers is just probably failing to work because of his feelings but something in him, instinct or what, tells him that it's something else.

And it started in that night in the alley, Law thought, so surely, something must have happened between the time when Luffy slipped off the roof to the time he found Luffy in the alley. Asking Luffy about it proved to be fruitless saying he's just been walking around after being cooped up in the small apartment so long. And Luffy's the worst liar there is, but then again, he remembered the last time Luffy lied, which is to Dadan, and Luffy said the lie with a straight face.

Something's fishy in here. He needs to keep watch on Luffy closely from now on.

•••

Luffy and Law just exited the hospital with a girl named Koala, the girl's not aware of the presence of the latter, who had taken care of Sabo in Luffy's absence and now that Luffy's seen Sabo for real, he let his mind wander to the demon beside him who remained unusually silent all throughout the interaction between him and Sabo, not that there is much to say given that Sabo's in a state of coma.

They finally arrived at the apartment complex and still, Law remains silent that it starts to unnerve Luffy more each second. Finally, when Law pulled up on the parking lot, Luffy decided to break the tense athmosphere between him and Law.

"Hey." Luffy whispered, testing the waters around Law. Still, Law did not say anything. Luffy sighed. Sure that there really is something wrong. On the way to the hospital, Law had suggested that they ride on a private car instead of using the public bus so Law could materialized and freely talk to Luffy. Luffy had agreed but when they arrived, Law decided to dematerialized again. He brushed it off as one of the demon's eccentricities.

But Luffy's confused now. Obviously, something's wrong here and he did not know. He put a hand over Law's but the demon jerked it back away. Luffy sighed. "Torao."

Law remained silent and did not move. Luffy contemplated whether he should leave the demon alone but decided against it anyway. In the end, he hummed silently, giving the demon the space it needs and looked out of the window.

While looking at the window, he saw someone intently looking at him, as if that someone could really see him through the tinted windows of the car. Luffy looked around at the empty parking lot and saw no one else is there, except him and Torao inside the car, and the creep.

The creep continued to openly stare at him and Luffy scrunched his eyebrows. Soon, he felt uncomfortable and felt goosebumps running over his skin when the man smirked as if he can feel Luffy's discomfort from the distance.

He cleared his throat and tore his gaze away from the creep. He turned to strike up another conversation with Torao, which remained fruitless. That is when Luffy felt his breathing get heavy and he looked at the direction of the creep again. Unconsciously, Luffy moved his hand towards the hidden crucifix necklace on his neck and closed his eyes. When he opened them, his posture became rigid with shock.

Because what looks like an ordinary civilian at first, now changed into an appearance that is already familiar with Luffy.

On the side of the man's forehead are horns bigger and longer than Torao's. They eyes are colored as black like as the blackholes. The skin of the man is tinted with red as the hair on the man's head and dark mists of black smoke surround it.

A demon.

Luffy gasp and turned to clutch Law's arm with unnecessary force. When he turned around, he noticed Torao's not ignoring him on purpose but rather, he is frozen like everything else at that moment.

"Torao!" Luffy exclaimed. He grabbed the demon's shoulders and shook it hardly. When he got no response, he tried to slap the demon's face but still got no response. Beads of sweat started to form on Luffy's forehead and he looked at the other demon on the parking lot who looks amusedly at him. Now Luffy's positive, this other demon could really see him through the tinted windows.

"TORAO!" Luffy shouted and shake the shoulders of the demon beside him. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the other demon moved and slowly stepped towards their car.

"Fuck." Luffy whispered and tears slipped from his eyes. He is confused and scared and lost for what to do. Because somehow, something in his gut tells him that this other demon is nothing like Torao, who is nice and caring and thoughtful. He felt desperation claw at every fiber of his being to wake up Torao whatever spell this other demon casted to his demon.

"TORAO!?" Luffy clutched the hands of the demon and muttered silently. "If you're angry at me, and I know you are, please, don't play with me like this."

The demon remained unresponsive and Luffy take a peek at the advancing demon behind him. He laughed at the strangeness of the situation because here he is, begging a _demon_ to wake up and save him when most people would be calling out to their guardian angels.

But then again, it is Torao who had been there, not his guardian angel.

_Goddamnit! Why demons suddenly started to appear in my life?_

He'd greatly appreciate it if they all just start to disappear in his life.

Not Torao, though.

He jerked when a cold finger caressed his spine. He turned and covered the demon protectively behind him. Because if this other demon went here to harm Torao, then Luffy's gonna make sure not a scratch would even land on his precious demon.

"Hey there, young one." The other demon whispered. Another wave of goosebumps hit his skin and he shivered involuntarily. His face remained impassive however.

"What are you doing here?" Luffy spat, willing the demon to go away in his mind.

The demon, who is leaning on the car and goes through the window as if he is invicible, smirked and moved it's face closer to Luffy. Luffy felt disgusted by the act but determined not to let this other demon to get the satisfaction from showing how uncomfortable he is at this situation.

"Relax. I'm only here to drop by and perhaps... have some small talk?" 

Luffy would not be fooled by the friendly act though. "Let's cut to the chase and tell me what do you want from me."

The demon laughed and leaned away from the car. Luffy fought the urge to sighed with relief at the space. He peeked behind him to check if Torao's moving already but apparently, he's not. Frustration enveloped Luffy and he sorely wished he's back at Sabo's side just to get the comfort he received earlier from seeing Sabo.

"I don't want anything from you. If anyone here needs anything, I think it's you." The demon said and looked at Law meaningfully. It took Luffy a few more seconds before catching the demon's meaning. And despite of himself, he let himself be caught in the trap set by the demon talking to him now.

"Tell me everything you know about Trafalgar Law. And how do you know that I~" Luffy started to say but the demon opened the car and yanked him outside. Luffy screamed but before he could let a sound to escape his mouth, he felt his feet hit a cobbled pavement.

Cobbled...?

Where is he? Some signet regent romance?

"Trafalgar D. Water Law is his full name. Born to the wealthy family in Flevance. Both parents are doctors that died in the fire. His sister followed their parents shortly thereafter, leaving Law alone and angry." A voice spoke behind him then the demon stepped beside him, a smirk gracing it's mouth. Luffy's frowned turned into scowl and he almost punched the demon in the face.

"What?" The demon asked innocently. Luffy turned away amd shake his head then "I wanna go back. Thanks but no thanks. There's got to be some strings attached here."

The demon laughed. "Errr, no. You see, because of the crucifix around your neck-" Luffy opened his mouth to interrupt but the demon held up it's hand. "-you became protected from demons with any ill intentions towards you."

Luffy raised one eyebrow at that. "If it is that easy, then I suppose all human's should just wear a crucifix to repel your kind then?"

The demon only shrugged at that as an answer.

"The priest told me it's only to prevent your kind from entering my mind." Luffy challenged. Again, only a shrugged.

"The thing is, this is not your mind. This is my memories. I used to be Law's demon." The demon said and flashed him a smirk. "So you should be honored, I'm showing this for free, no strings attached, no hidden deals, no in between the lines." The demon finished.

Luffy's still suspicious of this demon's intention. Yet, he knows that he really has no choice to refuse here but go along. He stayed still and turned his focus towards the scene in front.

Currently, past-Law is sitting in one of those foster homes alone and angry. In the distance, Luffy could vaguely hear other kids laughing and playing in the background. Everything is splashed in sepia colors, almost as if watching the old movies and every sound echoes in the air, as if lingering in his ears. Past-Law wears some strange clothing that Luffy's not sure what era belongs, hands clasped in front of him, staring at nothing in patticular. It was a long time when past-Law had moved at the shout of an elderly-looking woman and dragged himself in a line where all the other kids already lined up. A man wearing a pink boa leered at each children followed by another man wearing a black boa.

"I didn't now boa's a thing back then." Luffy said quietly.

The demon raised his eyebrows at him and said nothing. The man in pink boa stopped before past-Law and Luffy cringed at the smile the man gave little Law. Definitely not the smile you give to your potential adoptive kid.

Everything swirled in a mist and the scene changed in front of Luffy. It's a scene of the underside of the city. A figure passed by him as if Luffy's invicible, and maybe he is, after all, this are all the memories of the demon who's watching him at the moment. Little Law snatched the belongings of a lady and Luffy looked at the demon questioningly.

The demon seemed to catch the question in his eyes for he explained. "Donquixote Doflamingo adopted Law. Unbeknownst to the caretakers of the home, Doflamingo operates as an underworld broker and criminal organization lord. He used Law and trained him. But you see that guy? That's Donquixote Rosinante, or as Law refers to him, Cora-san. He will finally had enough of his brother's evil and saved Law. Look."

Rosinante tripped over the sidewalk before pulling Law into an alley. He grabbed the little's boy hand and dragged him to the lady Law had snatched the purse with earlier and returned the stolen wallet. The lady had thanked him and take her leave. When the lady left, Law had shouted to Rosinante and threw a tantrum. Rosinante just laughed at the flustered Law.

The scene changed again and it morphed to Law crying over a lifeless body in front of him. Luffy's eyes widened when he recognized Corazon and he cried for Law, who now Luffy realized had lost so much at such a young age.

The scene swirled before his eyes again and it turned to an older version of Law. Cold eyes hardened by grief and loss. Law is looking down at the dead body of Doflamingo that Luffy couldn't hear amidst the pounding in his ears at seeing Law's hand stained by blood. The demon speak again.

"Law had killed Doflamingo as a revenge. That did not satiate his hunger. Law had changed to a monster at this point and let's just say that...Doflamingo's not going to be his last kill. His heart had filled with so much anger and he wished to take down everyone with him."

More scenes continued to play in front of him. Of Law killing countless people, both innocent and guilty. Of Law orchestrating events that will ultimately lead to chaos. Of Law...Of Law doing things he never thought he will.

"Needless to say, when he died, Law had become a demon in the afterlife. And he continued creating chaos and wrecking havoc in people's lives...and..."

" _No._ " Luffy interjected at the implication of the demon. Because, just _no_ , he won't believe it. Law would never do that to him. NO.

"Yes." The demon said brutally. Luffy shook his head and stepped backwards. His confusion turned to anger. And he directed that anger to the demon beside him.

"FUCK YOU! TAKE ME BACK NOW! TAKE ME BACK TO PRESENT! LEAVE ME ALONE! _FUCK YOU._ " Luffy shouted but the demon remained standing still. The air had changed around him and although everything still looks old and everything still splashed with sepia, the scenery had turned into a more familiar environment.

It's a scene he knows. A scene that he's sure he had a different version in his memory. It's his workplace. And he's working late at night cleaning the studio, he left and then a figure materialized out of nowhere. Law had made a mess of everything and when the next day came, Luffy had swore to his employer he cleaned everything before he left. His employer would not hear any of it and fired him.

Law proceeded to do something like that in any of Luffy's next jobs but Luffy moved on like nothing. The next thing he knows, the scene morphed into that of Law urging a suicidal man to board a cruise ship.

The cruise ship Sabo works on.

And Luffy witnessed how Sabo diffused the situation. The suicidal man changing his mind in the end and calming down. Everyone clapped but unlike everyone else, Luffy saw how the irritated demon Law moved to detonate the bombed.

And the ship exploded.

Just like that, he almost lost Sabo.

Because of Law.

_FUCKING DEMON._

The scene continued changing from frame to frame. It showed how Law had manipulated the tragic events that happened to Luffy up until Ace's death. By the end of recollection, Luffy's crying and his ears are ringing. His breath came in ragged gasps and he clutched the wooden crucifix on his chest. He felt like getting up and maybe giving a kick or two at Law but felt too weak on his knees to do that. He hugged himself and sobbed uncontrollably on the ground, the pain from the events coming back to haunt him once again arriving now with guilt, for Law did all of that because of him. So naturally, it's all his fault.

For a minute, Luffy had thought of standing up and maybe just sticking up the wooden crucifix in Law's ass because of anger but a whisper in his mind said that doing that would not make him any different to Law. So instead, he remained kneeling on all fours in the ground and cries hysterically. The other is nowhere to be seen and Luffy's gone back to reality. He heard a sound of a car door shutting somewhere but his mind is in too much haze to register anything.

•••

Law jolted when he noticed the passenger seat empty. His eyes widened with confusion on how Luffy disappear on thin air all of a sudden. All he remembered is Luffy touching his hand and him jerking it back then the next thing he knows, Luffy is nowhere to be seen at the passenger seat.

His lips pressed into a thin line as suspicion creep in the back of his mind. He slammed his hands on the steering wheel in anger and muttered. "I don't know what games you're playing now, Vivi! But I'm telling you, fuck with me and I'll mess you up."

His threat does nothing however and still no Luffy appeared. He got out of the car and slammed it shut when he heard sobs near him. He heightened his senses and was horrified when he ran around and saw Luffy kneeling and sobbing uncontrollably. He felt his heart clenched at the sight and anger bubbled up in his blood for whoever made his human cry. Now Law's sure something's big at work here and playing with Luffy. He ran near Luffy and enveloped the smaller male in a hug. He said nothing and let Luffy release whatever it is he needs to. Law felt frustrated at not knowing anything and this strange circumstance. First he cannot read Luffy's mind, now Luffy's disappearing into thin air and this. Fuck.

They continued in that position until Luffy froze up and looked at Law. His eyes slowly focusing into his face until the smaller male pushed him away and stood shakily. Law had been shocked at this treatment and more than hurt at the disgust filled in Luffy's gaze. He did not know what happened but something's surely took place.

"Luffy..." Law said in what he assumed to be a calming tone, because his heart is pounding so hard in his ribs right now he knows that he is far from calm himself. Confusion mixed with rejection is singing up to his veins. Then, "What happened?"

Luffy laughed. Loud and hysterical. A laugh that is delirious and anything but happy. Luffy pointed an accusing finger in his direction. "What happened? What haPPENED!? YOU!? YOU FUCKING DEMON FREAK! YOU HAPPENED! I KNOW... I KNOW EVERYTHING NOW! I...Y-YOU... KILLED THEM!? I FUCKING HATE YOU!? YOU HEAR THAT? I fucking hate you..." Luffy whispered the last part.

Law remained frozen in his place however. Now the confusion and rejection mixed with fear and anger as the chilling realization of Luffy's words hit him. He searched the brown eyes of the smaller male for any of those adoration and fondness Luffy gives towards him and saw nothing but pain, hatred and betrayal.

It was his turn now to laugh. He laughed to mask the pain at seeing those fond gazes turned to disgusted. He laughed. Low and empty. Low like his morals and empty like his soul. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WHAT DID YOU FUCKING EXPECT!? I'M A DEMON FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" He shouted at Luffy.

Those brown eyes flashed with more hurt at his words. "I TRUSTED YOU!"

"I TRUSTED YOU TOO! HOW THE FUCK DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS? DOES THAT USELESS GUARDIAN ANGEL OF YOURS SHOWED UP AND TOLD YOU, HUH? TELL ME!" Law demanded, his eyes showing how hurt and betrayed he felt too.

"Or rather, did you sell your stupid ass to another devil to get information on me?" Law said in a dangerous low voice, his horns now protruding and skins turning to alien glow. Luffy's stiffness had been enough giveaway for Law to put two and two together after that statement.

Law stood up slowly from the ground and stalked towards Luffy like a predator cornering his prey. Luffy fought the urge to step backwards, fed up with all of this shitty bullshits all demons have been putting through.

Now, Law stands directly in front of him, an inch away from his body and grabbed his jaw in one hand. "Who?" Law asked him, voice dangerous low, laced with threat.

Luffy did not answer his question and goad the demon instead. "None of your fucking business, you demon freak!" He applaud himself for he heard his voice coming out more courageous than he felt.

"I repeat, who?" Law asked him again, eyes glinting warningly and gripped his jaw harder. Luffy winced from the pain.

"And therefore, I also repeat, none of your fucking business!" Luffy hissed, imitating Law's voice to mock him.

"TELL ME WHO THE FUCK, YOU FUCKING WHORE!" Law roared in his face and released his jaw. Luffy fell into the ground and massage his jaw, glaring daggers at him.

"I'M NOT YOUR FUCKING WHORE AND~" Luffy started to say but Law grabbed him up and kissed him hard on the lips. Luffy struggled and wiggled but Law only held him harder and kissed him on the lips. Luffy started to throw punches at Law but the demon did not even flinch. He felt tears slid down his cheeks instead and that is when Law started to kissed him softly.

Soon, Law released their lips and hugged him. "It's true." Law said.

Luffy closed his eyes and remained silent. When he did not say anything, Law speak again. "I'm the one responsible for what happened with Sabo. I also play a part in the death of your friends. I...I also killed your grandfather and...and..."

"Ace." Luffy finished for Law.

"Yes. Him." Law said and hugged Luffy tighter, now the guilt wracking his whole body and haunting his mind. Making the first person he cared about in a long time to suffer. Unwillingly, Law started to cry too.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to do that. I mean, I...I did not know I will _care_ so much. I know it's wrong but it's the way I am. And I planned to do a lot worse things to you. I can't help it. I'm a demon. But you...you changed me. You changed everything.  
You, you look me in the eye with no disgust, malice or lust. You, you smiled at me genuinely, despite knowing who I am. And I would not blame you if hate me now. I would hate myself, too." Law is aware that he's just speaking on auto-pilot now and rambling but everything he's saying is true and if ever Luffy decided to hate him, he'll accept it.

But Luffy did not say anything or even move. When Law had look at him, Luffy merely stared in space and thoughtful. After a while, Luffy opened his mouth and seemingly to gather his thoughts. "I need space."

Law smiled. That isn't a yes or no, but it's okay to him. It's the best he could get. "Sure."

Then Law stepped back and started to dematerialized before Luffy grabbed his hand. "Yes?" 

"It's a red-haired guy with red skin and black horns." Luffy said.

Law frowned. _Eustass_

"Okay."

"Okay."

Then Law disappeared out of thin air.

•••

He punched Eustass as soon as he spotted the red-head and the man landed on the ground from the impact. The blazing fires of Hell licked his body but the man did not flinch and instead just laughed. "What's got your horns in a twist, Trafalfuck?"

"Stay away from my human, Eustass. I'm serious." Law gritted his teeth and pointed a finger at the other demon's face. Eustass just laughed at him again.

"Since when did you become his guardian angel, Tra-fuck-gar?" Eustass mocked him. Law bared his fangs at Eustass but instead of being threatened, the demon glorified at this reaction.

"Aw. Everyone! Look this way, look this way!" Eustass shouted at gestured to get everyone's attention. When all demons present turned to look at them, Law gritted out a "Fuck off."

"See here? The cold Trafalgar Law, said to be as heartless as Satan itself, fell in love with his puny little human!" Eustass announced to everyone. Law moved to punched him again but Eustass docked and moved away from him.

Laughters echoed aroud Law and this time, he moved too fast for Kidd to comprehend and punched him again before grabbing his head. "You better stay the fuck away from my human."

He released Eustass and flew off to the mortal plane once again.

•••

Luffy is walking once again from Zeff's when he decided to made a detour and went to Dadan's. He ran instead of taking the bus to relieve his mind of thoughts about Law. However, his mind seems to think otherwise and thoughts of Law plagued him more than before. His mind flashed back to everything from that day again and once again, his thoughts became too deep because he did not notice he wandered off in the middle of the highway until a loud honk and screams startled him and the next thing he know, he is inches away from a car. Luffy's closed his eyes, sure it's going to hit him this time and he'll die. 

_Will he go to hell because of associating with Law? What about Sabo? How would he feel if he wakes up and found Ace and Luffy dead?_

He felt something light grabbed him bynthe waist and then, he's rollinf of the side of the highway. People started to run in his direction and fuss around, but his attention focus solely on Law.

"Honestly, do you have a deathwish or something?" Law grumbled. But Luffy might have hit his head too hard on the cement for he's vaguely aware of something dripping from his nose then he lost consciousness.

•••

He is surprised to find himself in his bedroom instead of in the hospital. But he did not ask anymore questions for frankly, he didn't really care. He looked at the bedside table and saw a note and a soup and a glass water. The note contains a simple one word: Eat.

It's been a month since that incident and during that time, Luffy had had time to think and he seems to be doing it a lot this days too. He smiled. Well, it's time for him to stop thinking so he set down the note and said in a clear voice. "Law."

No Law appeared and Luffy figured maybe he's hesitant to show himself to Luffy so Luffy called out his name again, this time in a more commanding tone. "Law."

Nothing. Luffy rolled his eyes and frowned. He did not want to talk to him? Fine by him. He lied on his bed and covered himself with the blanket all they way from his head to toes. Then a deep voice speak. "I thought you said I'm Torao?"

Luffy smiled and uncovered himself and sat up on the bed. "You are."

Law looked at him questioningly and Luffy scooted on the side before patting the space next to him. "Come here."

The demon moved hesitantly but sat beside him anyway. "Well?"

Luffy let the air settled around them and choose to stay silent for a moment, organizing his thoughts and breathed deeply. "I forgive you."

"Really?" Law asked him, dumbfounded. He couldn't believe Luffy could forgive him just like that. He looked at Luffy in the eye to make sure his ears are not playing tricks on him.

"Yeah. There's but." Luffy nodded calmly.

"But what?" Law asked suspiciously. Yeah. This sounds right. This is what he is used to. Conditions. However, he can't think of anything what Luffy may want with him.

"But you have to apologize to them as well." Luffy said solemnly, looking for confirmation in Law's eye that he will do it.

"That's it?" Law asked, open-mouthed slightly. Disbelievingly. He grabbed Luffy's hands and looked questioningly at Luffy.

Luffy had a soft smile in his face, and although pain is still visible in his eyes, he laughed at Law's reaction and explained calmly. "I've thought about it. Look." He pulled his hand away from Law and pulled out the crucifix necklace hanging from his neck. He showed it to Law who did not even flinch at the sight. He almost made a comment that what with Law's saving his life every now and then, maybe Law's becoming an angel that he became immune with crucifixes. He realized it's not the time for jokes though so he bottled it up to himself.

"Remember that day you found me in the alley?" Luffy started and looked at Law for confirmation the demon is on the same page as him. He continued. "I just came from the church back then. The thing is, the priest told me who you are and what you do. And I kinda have an idea about it because the priest warned me."

"But you didn't listen." Law spoke quietly.

Luffy nodded. "Yes. Because you're important to me. Then you started acting weird so I didn't get a chance to ask you. Then IT happened. One minute you're sitting beside me, then the next... the demon yanked me out of the car and showed me EVERYTHING and all the pain I felt just... came back and you're there when I needed some space. Do you understand?"

He smiled bitterly. "Of course."

The silence reigned on the room for some time. After a while, Law stood up on the bed and held his hand out to Luffy.

Luffy looked taken aback and maybe he really is. He didn't expect that while Law shuffled in his feet, feeling rejected thinking Luffy still didn't trust him before letting his hand fell to his sides again. At this, Luffy realized his mistake and took Law's hand. "No."

Law jerked it back clumsily and looked to the side before carrying himself to the door. Luffy ran after him. "Wait!"

However, Law remained impassive and walking until they reached the parking lot. When Law turned around again, he had a small smile on his face that Luffy missed. Law opened the car door for Luffy and now Luffy felt confused.

"You said to apologize to them. So hop off then so we could go and do it." Law explained.

For a while, Luffy just looked at Law because _fucking demon_ being confusing as hell. But decided he don't want to argue with Law again so he went along with the demon's whims.

He sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WAAAAAHHHHH! I PROMISE I'LL FINISH THIS AS SOON AS I CAN TO GET BACK ON TIME TRAVEL GONE WRONG. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. CHAPTER 5 IS ALREADY IN MY DRAFTS AND ASFDHXJDNKZKANKZ.


	5. Fated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES! FINALLY! This chapter had been like waiting for me to be posted for a damn while now. Hahahahaha. I can't even described how happy I am to share this with everyone! Yay!
> 
> So without further ado, I now present to you the final chapter of Here's the Thing.

For some reason, Luffy felt lightheaded as Law hummed while driving beside him. He watched the road blurred in his sight as their car passed by and he observe the random strangers going on their own business as usual. Luffy marveled at the fact that a few months ago, his life had been normal like theirs. The most of his problem is whether to order fast food or to cook so he can eat. Now, that's the least of his problems for worrying about how many demons will sprout into his life in the future is the main theme in his life now.

In all honesty, Luffy never really think of the future. He is the living-in-the-moment kind of guy. He never bothers himself because he knows time would be wasted if he kept fretting about it. But here he is now. Worrying about the future, sitting beside a freaking demon (he mean, a freaking literal demon, for god's sake) and about to face his tragedies in the past, which is caused by the said demon.

Most people would probably never understand his decision to forgive Law. If the same thing happened to them, maybe they'll not even talk, or think of Law again, let alone forgive him. But he's not most people. He would forgive Law. And had his friends alive right now, they'll probably told him to steer clear away from Law. But Luffy believed Torao. He had saved Luffy multiple times. There's hope in there, he knows.

He stole a glance at the demon beside him who remained humming lightly and focusing in the road. The demon is also lightly tapping his fingers at the steering wheel and lightly banging his head as he hummed. Luffy smiled. It's time like this that he hardly believes Law is a real demon. Right now, he looks as normal as anyone could be and he looks peaceful, nothing like the demon's depicted in folklore and mythology.

"What?" Law raised an eyebrow and looked at him shortly before focusing on the road once again. Luffy had been debating whether to ask Law about some things before deciding against it. He felt like it'd be too personal and God knows he did not need any awkward silence with Law again. Not when they just got back together.

_Okay. That didn't sound right._

So instead of asking Law about whether he's seen God before or how he looks like or if Hell is really crawling with demons burning in fire or if Angels really wears nothing but white, he blurted out "Why did you kiss me?"

_Fuck. That is so much worse._

Law slammed the brakes forcefully and the car stopped suddenly and you can just hear the wheels screeching from the sudden jerking to a stop of the car. Also, if you listened closely, you could hear his heartbeats dominating the totally awkward silence in the car. Good thing Luffy's wearing the seat belt or he would had banged his head from the sudden halt. He felt like his soul just jumped out of his body. Blood pounded in his ears and his vision whirred from vertigo.

The demon gazed at him with widening eyes and opened and closed his mouth like a goddamn fish sucking in air while flopping on the deck. Huh. That imagery is fucking weird. Better to regain control of his thoughts. For a millionth time ever since receiving the crucifix, he became more thankful than ever for the protection it gave him from Law reading his thoughts.

"L-l-luffy... a-about that... I don't... I mean- not that- FUCK." Law stuttered and never really able to form a coherent sentence. Figures. If Luffy tried to speak, he's pretty sure he'd stutter to.

He let his thoughts wander and looked away from the stuttering demon beside him, every inch of his being urges him to scream and run away from Law. At the same time, there's nowhere else in this world he'd rather be because after everything, Law had been his savior. And this confuses Luffy, wondering about the demon's intentions. Did the demon do it out of some deep instinctual whim or does it have a price he is not aware of? He already stopped analyzing Law a long time ago, but that does not mean he did the same for himself. Because after all this tragedies, he's sure he is not the same Luffy anymore. His... other thoughts proved it.

He grimaced as he remember those other thoughts. He bit his lip in concentration as he willed images of blood in his hands, gore and violence around him, and a deadly smirk dominated his mind. He balled his hand into fists and shook his head once again. He glanced at the demon beside him who apparently did not notice his internal struggle and still stuttering. That irked him because it added to his confusion so he grabbed Law's face and kissed him. Hard.

Everything seemed to have stopped as the air stand still and Luffy thought Law had been frozen by something else again because the demon did not respond but remained sitting still. He gripped Law's face harder, willing it to move to against his lips and he took advantage of Law's frozen state and opened the demon's mouth and explore. He let his hand to settle around Law's shoulders and slowly sneaked its way down. He smirked a little as his hand stray against Law's... sensitive regions and find that it's hard. That is when Law decided it was probably time to move and put a hand on his arm and pulled away from Luffy.

"Luffy..." Law whispered, breathless and flustered. His face painted with utter confusion. Luffy held his stare at Law and did his best to put on the best poker face he can give.

"Drop it, Trafalgar. It's nothing. I just did it to shut you up and now we can call it quits." Luffy breathed, trying to hold Law's gaze. Something akin to hurt briefly passed in the demon's eye that quickly vanished leaving Luffy wondering if he had imagined it.

Then, Law laughed. So hard the demon's clutching his stomach. Luffy raised an eyebrow at the laughing demon, wondering what on earth he had said or did to make this demon happy. Finally, Law's laughs subsided, replaced with a smirk on his lips and looking at Luffy with something calculative in his eyes. Somehow, the air inside the car feels thicker than before and he found breathing a little hard.

"You're still angry with me, aren't you?" Law asked him, looking at Luffy directly in the eyes. By this point, Luffy knows lying would be useless anyway so he did not even try to deny that statement. Instead, he looked away from Law and bit his lip, choosing carefully his next words.

"I am. I'm angry... well, not exactly. I'm not sure. I feel betrayed and also confused. I don't even know what to feel anymore. If you'd gone that far just to hurt me, then... then why did you even take care of me when I already lay beaten to the ground? In fact, I'm wondering why are you still here and... I don't know, Law. You tell me." Luffy said solemnly, casting his gaze back at the demon who watched him silently. To his great annoyance, the demon just shrugged and smirked then leaned very close in his face.

"I don't know, either." The demon answered simply and lowered it's face to his neck. "I can't answer your questions. I don't know either." The demon repeated, the hot breath he releases as he speaks tickles Luffy's neck. Luffy felt the hairs on his nape stood on full alert and he sat still, letting Law did whatever he is doing.

The demon raised its head and looked at him in the eyes, leaning closer while caressing his face with one hand and his neck with the other. "But I can do something about those feelings. I can help you..." Law trailed off and met Luffy's lips.

Luffy did not even find it in himself to struggle and let himself melt into the kiss. He felt like drowning, knowing you're fucked but helpless to do anything about it. He felt Law's tongue entered his mouth and teased him expertly on the right places. Their lips danced against each other until the soft, slow kiss turned into frantic, faster pace. He wrapped his arms against Law's neck and Law pulled him closer. The next thing Luffy know, they're making out in the backseat like some horny teenagers in the highschool.

Law pushed him against the leather seat at the back and trailed kisses along his jaw and his neck. His lips find it's way to his collarbone and to his bare chest... _bare...?_ since when did Law pulled his shirt up?

A voice somewhere at the back of his mind screamed for Luffy to get his ass controlled and pushed Law away, pushed the demon who caused him so much pain and took everything away from him. Desire overwhelms him at the moment however, clouding all his senses so he ignored that voice. Maybe later he would regret it, now, he'll just let the fire in his body to take over.

Law mashed his lips against his own again and Luffy find himself wanting more of Law, of his taste against his mouth at the same time hating this need to pull Law closer and kiss him harder. Luffy felt breathless and powerless against the wave of emotions reverberating throughout his body. He wanted so badly to kiss Law and pushed him away at the same time. Maybe he finally lost his mind.

"Torao..." Luffy rasped out, feeling dazed when Law pulled away suddenly. It took him a few moments before he managed to focus on the face hovering above him.

A caress. Light and gentle, with just right amount of pressure. "Well... tell me, are you still angry?" Law prompted.

 _Yes,_ his mind wanted him to say but what came out is an airy, breathless "Not anymore."

Law pulled himself up then and Luffy looked at him confusedly. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

The demon smiled at him mockingly. "Well, Luffy-ya. We have a cemetery and graves to visit, aren't we?"

•••

"Can they really hear you?" Luffy wondered aloud, walking side by side with Law as they exited the cemetery. He heard and remembered every single word Law told his friends in their respective graves but Luffy thought, do they really hear him? It's such a waste if they didn't.

Law looked at him sideways and nodded his head slightly to answer Luffy's question. Luffy hummed in acknowledgement and focused all his attention in the setting sun casting its warm orange glow at their faces. He stared at it as if being hypnotized and walked absently. The longer Luffy stare at it, the more it seems to dance as if teasing him. He jolted when he felt a hand grabbed his arm and Luffy met the demon's eyes which is narrowed into thin slits.

"What?" Luffy inquired, astonished as Law looked around and hissing at nothing in particular. Finally, Law stopped freaking him out but still goosebumps crawled in his skin as their eyes met once again.

"Don't do that." Law said in a hushed tone and searched for something in Luffy's face.

"Do what?" Luffy countered, irritated at Law for some reason.

Silence stretched for a few minutes before Law shook his head and cast his gaze around them. Then, Law grabbed his hand and dragged him to the car before slamming the car door in his face.

Luffy frowned, unimpressed by Law and he opened his mouth to speak. Before he could do that, however, Law faced him and gave him a grin that melted all his thoughts away.

"You know, there's this art fest 1 hour drive away from here, how does that sound to you?" Law said and wiggled his eyebrows. Luffy cringed internally and rolled his eyes but laughed at the demon's antics nevertheless.

"You don't have to do this, you know." Luffy said while chuckling.

"I want to."

Luffy froze and swallowed, unable to hide his feelings. He felt his heart quicken and ached as the thought how much pain Law brought to him crossed his mind. Various emotions flickered in his eyes as Law watched his face, awaiting for reaction. Conflicting emotions constricted his lungs and Luffy thought that if he did not calm his emotions very soon, then he will combust as love, hate and confusion dominated him all at once.

Finally, he managed to at least take hold of his emotions temporarily.

"Sure."

•••

The car drive going to the art fest was uneventful, which was something Luffy is thankful for. The sky was already dark and lamps in different shapes, sizes and colors are hanging all around the site. The smell of smoke, food and something Luffy could not put his finger on permeated in the air. Together, they went from stalls to stalls and tried out various foods, some of which are original recipes of the vendors. Law bought them a color paint in different colors and when Luffy asked him what will he do with it, Law just gave him a mischievous smirk.

They watched a group of artists sketched people who volunteered as a model and when they got tired of watching them, Law hauled them over a group of people dressed in bright costumes dancing without music. Law grabbed his hand and moved them in a middle.

"What?" Law asked, teeth flashing brightly as he gave Luffy one of the biggest grins he ever saw on the demon's face.

"How are we going to dance without music?" Luffy said and crossed his arms. Law, however, just chuckled and closed his eyes, moving into a non-existing music.

Luffy smiled fondly at the sight of Law dancing freely. Then, like a sledgehammer, the fact that this person killed many of his loved ones hit him in the face once again. Luffy winced at the reminder and looked away lest the demon caught his expression. Something in the outskirts had him freezing him in fear however. There, hidden among the foliage and protected by the dark, is Kidd, watching them speculatively.

Luffy opened his mouth to speak to warn Law but Kidd vanished in an instant. He panicked mentally but quickly stopped himself as a voice somewhere in the back of his mind that he did not really had a reason to fear Kidd. He has nothing to lose except Sabo and Luffy trust Law to protect his brother.

 _Will he really?_ a voice similar to his own but dripping with poison and malice hissed somewhere inside his consciousness, _He killed all your friends, remember? He killed Ace and your old man. What will make Sabo different?_

Luffy shook his head clear from this thoughts and joined Law to distract himself. Unknowingly to him, a demon in a red hair grins triumphantly in the darkness.

•••

After dancing, Law brought them to the wide clearing where all the others are assembling. Law pulled the color paints from a plastic. Luffy watched as Law moved away from him, walking backwards, sporting a large mischievous grin. Then, all around him, people started to count and when he turned to look at Law again, he was already a good distance away from him, lips moving in sync with people around them. Luffy raised his eyebrow then, as a loud cheers erupted, color paints erupted everywhere, people splashing the color paints at another. With a big blopping sound, a color paint hit his chest and turned to meet Law's eyes who was chuckling at him and one hand raised preparing to launch another paintball to him.

Luffy smirked and grabbed a paintball from a random civilians hand and looked around for his target. A paintball hit his head at the side and saw Law who was full-on laughing at him now.

"You shouldn't have done that." Luffy whispered and launched the paintball towards Law aggressively. Law ducked and throw him another paintball which he dodged. Spotting the paintball stand near him, Luffy ran towards the stand and grabbed a number of paintballs while pushing a random amount of cash into the vendor's hand. Luffy searched for his target once again when a loud splash hit him in the back. He grabbed a paintball in his arms and launched another attack towards Law. He watched in satisfaction as a green color spattered in Law's cheek. For a split second, Law froze up and Luffy took the opportunity to launch another paintball towards Law. Law throw him a big blue paintball that smacked in his hair and they continued their paintball war until Law surrendered in the end.

Law brought out two fresh set of t-shirts and shorts once they got cleaned up. All around them, people also started to clean themselves. Law and Luffy strolled once again towards the vendors when Law spotted a straw hat. Luffy was looking at a girl doing salestalk with a man when Law come up behind him and put the straw hat in his head without any words. Luffy removed the straw hat and examined it before turning to look at Law and mouthed the words "Thank you."

Law made him swear never to bring up the blush that spread across his cheek afterwards.

•••

It's already one in the morning when Law brought him home. Luffy slept during the ride and Law carried him then carefully tucked him in his bed. The demon watched Luffy sleep with a soft smile in his face. He laid the straw hat he gave to Luffy on the nightstand and caressed Luffy's hair, careful not to wake the other up. Finally, just before he disappeared, he decided to give Luffy a quick peck on his cheek. Just as he dipped his head down for a kiss, Luffy opened his eyes and eyed him sleepily. Law's breath hitched up and he froze, awaiting for Luffy's reaction but the smaller raven just smiled at him tenderly before closing his eyes once again.

"G'night, Torao." Luffy mumbled.

•••

Luffy opened his eyes and walked sleepily towards the kitchen, smelling the telltale smell of boiling soup and expecting Law in there but he gasped in shock as he saw _Kidd_ instead.

"What are you doing here?" Luffy demanded while looking around for any object that could be used as weapon.

Kidd turned around to face him and gave him a once over before turning back to the soup. "You're awake." Kidd said nonchalantly.

Luffy slowly backed out of the kitchen but Kidd turned to face him again, exasperation painted all over his face. "I thought you'd be more careful."

"What?"

"I said, I thought you'd be more careful around Law after I showed you everything." Kidd repeated and now the exasperation is clear on his voice.

"He...he already apologized and... he seems to be -" Luffy choked out but Kidd cut him off with a laugh overflowing with sarcasm.

"He seems to be sorry?" Kidd demanded while glowering at him and Luffy straightened his posture and glowered back at Kidd.

"Yes."

Kidd let out a loud, booming laugh, mocking him in all directions and Luffy felt his resolved faltered a bit as Kidd stalked him slowly. "Oh, dear Satan! You're a piece of work, aren't you? Demon's are the best actors. They can make apples appear oranges with just their words. We are the best scammers. We can make you pity us and make you think that the sin you commit is your greatest virtue. _You're so naive_ "

"I don't believe you!" Luffy said resolutely, determined not to let this demon to get in between him and Law but with his words, Kidd faltered in his steps and gasped, shock is painted all over his face. Then, his eyes who are mocking him mercilessly awhile ago turned soft and alarmed.

"Oh, no..." Kidd whispered and in spite of himself, Luffy asked the exact words he knew the demon wants to hear from him.

"What's that?"

"You're in love with him!" Kidd groaned and face palmed before pacing angrily in the kitchen.

Luffy, horrified, denied the accusation. "What? No! I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!" Kidd barked at him before grabbing his shoulderd. Luffy tried to squirm away from him and escape his hold but Kidd only hold on tighter.

"DON'T ACT AS IF YOU CARE!?" Luffy shouted before hitting Kidd's chest uselessly.

" _But I did... I do!_ " Kidd hissed at him harshly.

Luffy laughed ironically. "Oh really? You freaky demon liar!"

"Liar? _Liar....?_ LIAR!? When did I lie to you? HOW DARE YOU CALL ME THAT, YOU UNGRATEFUL PIECE OF SHIT!? LET ME TELL YOU THIS, I WON'T HELP YOU IF NOT FOR VIVI! Who's Vivi, you say? She's your guardian angel and I love her and I can't stand seeing her hurt as Law win you over. If you do not believe me, then ask your demon boyfriend. He can confirm everything for you, then, maybe, you'll learn to trust me as you realize who the real enemy is." Kidd said, rising and lowering his voice as he tried to control his temper, then, before Luffy even managed to say anything, Kidd disappeared out of thin air.

•••

They are lying side by side in the bed, cuddling each other. Law suggested they go out again but Luffy refused, saying he's still tired from the events of yesterday. And now, Law let the silence covered them for once, not noticing the conflict of emotions nagging his partner. He almost fell asleep when Luffy turned to face him.

"Torao...?"

Law faced Luffy too and hummed in acknowledgement.

"Do I have a guardian angel?"

Law frowned, unsure where this conversation is going. "Yes."

"What's her name?" Luffy asked and that is when Law noticed the distressed air surrounding Luffy.

However, for Luffy's sake, he forced himself to be calm as the barrage of suspicions crossed his mind. "Why do you ask?"

"Just.... cuuuriooooooous" Luffy answered, the lie obvious in his face and tone but so as to not scare Luffy, he pretended he bought the lie.

"Vivi. Her name is Vivi." Law said slowly, carefully watching Luffy's face for reaction and when he noticed Luffy stiffened, he hid his frown and gently ask. "Are you telling me the truth?"

Luffy coughed. "Y-y-yeah."

Law narrowed his eyes at Luffy. "Luffy."

Luffy whined and looked away from him.

"He visited again." Luffy whispered and before he could say anything else, Law disappeared out of thin air.

He groaned.

•••

Law marched through the murky road of hell, the bright glow from the flames cast a light in his skin that makes it look alien. His horns protruding from his head and he snapped the neck of everyone around him who gets in the way wishing it's Kidd's neck he is snapping. Finally, he located Kidd again and just like the other time, he grabbed the other unceremoniously and proceeded to gave his target a bone-cracking punch. Kidd stood up and recovered quickly, snapping his neck side to side before launching towards Law.

"What in the fucking blazes of hell do you hope to accomplish here?" Law harshly demanded while squaring up with Kidd.

Kidd grinned at him devilishly. "Ah. So your _boyfriend_ babbled to you? Did he also told you how loud and hot he is begging me to fuck him - " but Kidd did not finish his sentence because Law threw him away, landing few feet away from him.

But as Kidd recovered, Law already disappeared and laughed good-naturedly. "Everything goes according to the plan." Kidd whispered.

•••

Luffy is still in bed, the blanket covering him from head to toe, before it's yanked by Law who looked murderous.

"....Torao?" Luffy asked hesitantly before Law pounced on him and kissed him harshly. Luffy widened his eyes and moved his head left and right before Law pulled back. Once he got a good look on Law, Luffy felt his skin crawl as he realized Law was in his demon form once again. The fears and disgust he felt for Law at that moment was shattered once Law spoke up in a broken voice.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Luffy asked, astonished by Law's voice and expression.

"I love you. Am I not enough for you? Why would you - " Law started to say but Luffy cut him off. "What are you talking about?"

"Kidd said... that... that..." Law tried but failed miserably. Meanwhile, Luffy's astonishment only grew more.

"That what?" Luffy urged.

Then, it hit Law like a ton of bricks. That Kidd might be lying and like a fool, he believed it.

"Nevermind." Law sighed.

After a long, painful awkward silence on Law's part, Luffy hugged him and chuckled. "I think I know."

Law groaned.

"Well, if only you decided to stick with me a little longer, then I might have explained what happened exactly." Luffy whispered, still chuckling before grabbing the sides of Law's face and kissing him chastely.

Then, the kiss grew more frantic and urgent. Law groaned deep in his throat and Luffy hummed in delight between their kisses. Law paused and pulled slightly, searching Luffy's eyes before diving back down into the kiss. Law fumbled for the belt on Luffy's shorts and removed them. Meanwhile, Luffy tilted his head to the side as Law assaulted his neck for kisses, sucking on his skin as if the demon is determined to mark him. Luffy let his hands roamed around Law's chest, tracing the tattoos there and on his arms and shoulders. His hand moved towards Law's crotch, finding it rock hard and prepared to be pleased. Law on the other hand, moved his lips to Luffy's chest trailing towards the v on Luffy's hips. As his cold lips met the skin there, Luffy gasped in pleasure.

"Toraooo " Luffy said, breathless and hands groping for anything to hold him.

Law smirked but unsatisfied by Luffy's voice so he decided to up his game. He caressed Luffy's crotch and gave a few licks here and there. Luffy twitched and groaned.

"Torao! Ugh..." Luffy exclaimed, this time louder.

Then, in one go, Law take Luffy's cock in his mouth and bobbed his head up and down. Luffy let out cries and grabbed his head, therefore messing up Law's hair more than usual. But, in one swoop, he grabbed Law and changed their positions, making him straddle Law.

"Luffy-ya what - " Law tried to say as Luffy inserted his middle finger into his hole. Law hissed from surprise. Then, Luffy moved his finger erratically without exact rhythm and before even Law knew it, Luffy had inserted three fingers already.

Finally, when Luffy finished fingering Law, Luffy positioned his cock in front of Law's butthole as he grabbed a lube and coated his cock in it. Luffy dipped his head down for a kiss which Law gladly received and fucked Law senselessly.

"Luffy-ya...." Law whispered frantically, writhing like a bitch in heat under Luffy. Luffy continued to moved on top of him and in one stroke, hit Law's prostate.

"Luffy-ya!" Law exclaimed, feeling the pressure from having his prostate teased.

"Shit Law... Ugh.... You feel... so good...." Luffy expressed out of breath while continuing his ravage on Law's prostate.

Then, in one glorious stroke as Luffy hit hard on his prostate, Law orgasmed and Luffy followed not long before that.

Spent and tired, Luffy slumped in his side.

•••

Vivi paced nervously in her room, her friend watching her boredly as Vivi, for the nth time muttered "No, no, no, no!"

"You know, you're going to wear the carpet down if you continue your pacing one more time." Vivi's friend, Viola, said.

Vivi stopped her pacing and faced Viola. "You don't understand, Viola! Luffy... Luffy did not deserve this! " Vivi cried out hysterically, her mind in shambles as she recalled her meeting with the Princes.

The Princes are one of the Heaven's upper echelons responsible for giving out orders to angels like her. Her stomach twisted in revulsion as the Principal's voice haunt her. Her reverie was broken by Viola's voice.

"But Trafalgar Law deserved it." Viola interjected and with this words, Vivi turned harshly towards her friend.

"But Luffy did not. He deserved so much _more_ than... than... becoming a pawn in Heaven and Hell's little game! " Vivi exclaimed passionately before continuing "Did you know what they said about Luffy, Viola? They said _sometimes collateral damages_ cannot be avoided! What kind of logic is that? Luffy did not do anything to deserve this!"

Viola sighed and reached a hand to her friend. "You're right. But it's for the greater good, Vivi."

"I... I know but... there's got to be another way!" Vivi said frantically, now wringing her hands in anxiousness. She looked at her friend for any advice, hopeful that the wisdom the other angel possesses will help her aid at least Luffy, if not Law, even though she knows how much Luffy will be devastated if something ever happened to Law.

Viola sighed once more. "There is."

Vivi smiled in triumph before launching herself towards Viola and huggung the life out of the other angel.

•••

"Unfortunately, there is."

Kidd scowled then stood up, glaring daggers at Killer. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He growled.

Killer only leaned back in his chair, ignoring the redhead's outburst and sipping his tea, which is made of anything but herbal plants. "Because I didn't know, too."

"Well? Hurry up and tell me so I can do something to prevent them! Do you think Law might know?" Kidd asked, massaging his temples as another problem in his plan arise. He gritted his teeth.

He needs to make sure to detroy Law.

•••

"B-b-but...!" Vivi stuttered out, unable to form a coherent sentence after hearing Viola's explanation. "Is it even possible?" She asked, clarifying Viola's words and if she heard her right.

"Yes. If they mated, that is." Viola answered patiently.

•••

"WHAT!?" Kidd ground out, the rocks around them crumbling under his rage and he throw a powerful punch at the wall of rock beside him.

"Is that all?" Kidd demanded, seething in rage.

"No." Killer muttered lowly to lessen the impact on Kidd but apparently, it's not.

•••

"It's merely an assumption." Viola clarified towards Vivi, who is frozen in shock, eyes wide and mouth agape as the information slowly sink in.

"I can't believe it. " Vivi whispered hollowly.

•••

"It's just a simple deduction. But one that I'm almost sure of." Killer said after explaining the whole fiasco with Kidd.

But something in what he said had relaxed Kidd, who is now grinning manically, fangs showing and face highlighted by the glow of flames making him look more evil. "The way I see it it's pretty simple to take care of. We just kill them and it's all good again."

•••

"That idiot! Why he must be like this?! We need to get there on time and warn him!" A voice of the frustrated woman screeched as one of her companions fawned over her beauty obliviously. The woman, standing proudly in consternation at the situation her friend found himself in, massaged the bridge of her nose as the harsh winds of the Purgatory fanned her face.

A chuckle answered her from the side coming from one of her companions.

"Do you seriously find this entire situation funny?" The woman asked to her companion who chuckled at her earlier rant. Her companion merely chuckled again.

"But it's so romantic!"

Meanwhile, her other companions merely lazed around and go about their own business, leaving her more frustrated. A man in open polo shirts, all scars brandishing proudly on his chest, grunted.

"No need to be so worried about Luffy. If anything, we must worry about ourselves. I'm pretty sure they'll actually going to chase after us, Nami."

"What!? You think so, Zoro? But... but they did not know we escaped to tell him!" Nami screeched and ran to the man's side.

Zoro grunted again. "They'll bound to be aware of it sooner or later, if not already. Especially with how big of a storm is brewing because of Luffy and his boyfriend."

Another man groaned and joined the conversation, seemingly to finally gather his wits and stopped fawning over Nami.

"Argh. You know, before this, I always asked, _prayed_ for Luffy to finally be genuinely interested in someone, especially what with Hancock always running after him," the man spat bitterly to the last part without any vehemence, "but of course! He's Luffy! He would have chosen to entertain someone that will bring nothing but chaos with him!" He finished.

"But I'm happy Luffy found someone who cares for him deeply, no wonder their love became so passionate that it brewed up a storm down to the pits of Hell and the apex of the Heaven." Brook chimed in, hearing the conversation.

"I still can't believe Luffy is at the center of a prophecy even some demons and angels did not believe." Chopper expressed, looking uncharacteristically pensive about the whole situation, staring at the horizon of their floating ghost ship.

" _A love so pure amidst the thorn roses_

_Shall mock the Heavens and scorn the Hell_

_As the daring red eclipses with the passionate gold_

_a force so powerful shall be born_

_And thus whatever side They choose to be_

_Fate will allow Them to ultimately reach Victory."_

Robin recited the prophecy and as she spoke the words, everyone shuddered and held their breath, not for the words itself but for the events that will surely follow as implied by the prophecy.

•••

Law hummed as he caressed Luffy's back, smiling in satisfaction and tenderness as if his heart would explode any minute at the love he felt for Luffy. Because for Law, meeting Luffy had been like walking in a forest, a forest so beautiful that every being can't help but be emchanted by it. And like a foolhardy passerby, he let himself be lost in that forest, drinking in the immerse beauty of the nature, exploring and enjoying every crevice and corner he can probe.

Amd he intends to enjoy every moment of it even if he found himself falling down the bed of roses full of thorns.

At that moment, Trafalgar Law never knew how much a big coincidence he made when comparing the storm to come to his love for Luffy as a bed of roses full of thorns.

•••

_Luffy woke up._

But he's alone. And he's not in his room anymore, instead, he is standing in a middle of gazebo, his world painted in a combination of blue, black and white. And in front him is a path made of cobblestone steps. The pillars of the gazebo are surrounded by a growth of the darkest green leaves he ever seen it's almost black.

"Hello?" He called out but nothing came back to him but his own voice. He frowned and looked around.

"Torao?" He called out for his lover, remembering he should be with Law right now.  
.  
He took a step forward to the path, his footsteps echoing against the still silence of the environment, the sounds seemingly ominous and heavy in his own ears. Then, as he walked farther, he saw a garden full of roses, yellow and red.

He stopped just right in front of the garden and plucked a yellow rose with red tips and accidentally pricked himself with the thorn. Luffy hissed and stopped as a chuckle emanated in the air. He sharply turn around and saw no one. Once he came to face forward again, he saw Ace and almost let out a loud shriek.

"Did you know what a yellow rose means?" Ace asked, leaning against a fence, looking the exact same as the last time Luffy saw him.

"What?" Luffy responded, deciding to humor him.

"Popularly, it is thought to meant platonic romance, but it could also mean wisdom and power." Ace answered, straightening up and plucking a pure yellow rose.

"Others say it also means warmth and joy." Ace added, now standing directly in front of Luffy, holding a yellow rose for Luffy to reach.

Luffy reached for the flower and Ace turned his back on him again, sitting in front of a red rose surrounded by yellow roses. He plucked it up and played with it on his hands, smiling serenely as he did so. Then, he faced Luffy again and smiled, holding out a flower for Luffy.

Luffy reached for the flower too, studying it as if it holds the answers to a thousand questions racing in his head a mile a minute.

"Red roses convey deep desire and devotion. A powerful admiration that will withstand against all odds."

Ace added quietly. Finally, Luffy decided he had enough of the weird conversation he is having with Ace.

"Why are you telling me all this, Ace?"

Ace smiled enigmatically. The same smile he always give Luffy when he thinks Luffy is being stupid and he knows something Luffy don't. Luffy frowned at this. He'd seen that smile a thousand times before.

Ace strolled casually beside him and put an arm on his shouder. "Let me tell you a story, Luffy."

Luffy stared patiently at him.

"Once, there was a little girl who saved one of the angels. The angel she happened to save is none other than Angel Uriel, the angel of prophecy and intuition. And God? He was so happy and glad by this little girl's act of heroism that He decided to bestow the girl the Knowledge of the Future."

"The Knowledge of the Future," Ace continued, "is a powerful knowledge about the Final War between Angel and Demons. And word got out about the little girl's gift and every Demon and Monsters you could think of ran after her, even some Angels tried to kill her."

Luffy widened his eyes and opened his mouth to speak but Ace shushed him immediately.

"Now, just before the little girl died, she imparted a prophecy to everyone, that she claims not even God knows. And everyone got more scared of that announcement. Some believed it, some didn't. Until that story died and became a legend and the brave heroic girl who gave her life for everyone was forgotten."

Luffy gulped and hesitated, debating whether to speak or not.

"And?" Luffy prodded.

"And that's it. She left a prophecy that became a Legend for milleniums."

"What is the prophecy all about and why are you telling me this? And what's with the roses?" Luffy asked, hungry for answers.

Ace laughed silently. "The prophecy is all about two lovers, one of them is called Victory and whoever it sided will win the Final War."

"So..."

"So if Victory decided go side with the Demons, they will win, yes." Ace confirmed.

Luffy's mind suddenly flashed back to Kidd and shuddered. But he is quickly reminded of Law and smiled fondly. "That doesn't sound so bad."

Ace shook his head. "No Luffy. It's worse. Not all Demons are like... your boyfriend. Huh. Didn't know you swung that way."

Luffy laughed. "I didn't, too."

Companionable silence enveloped the two brothers for a while, a lot of unspoken words that didn't need to be said hung loosely in the air. Luffy contemplated Ace's words and smiling at this strange dream he's having now, one that he wished he wouldn't forget when he finally wake up in reality. He played with the flowers and hummed.

"Say, Ace, what does this flower mean?" Luffy asked.

Ace smiled. "It means friendship blossoming into romance."

Then, Luffy noticed everything slowly dissipate into thin air and when he looked at his side where he expected to see Ace, he found his brother to be gone. Then, everything abolished into the air until all it remains is Luffy holding three roses in his hand.

•••

He opened his eyes, expecting the blinding light of the sun to burn his retinas but it did not come. Instead, Luffy is met with a dark toned chest with swirls of tattoo and the warmth that emanates from the person holding him in their arms. Luffy looked up to see Law and he smiled fondly at the sleeping face of his demon lover, despair and joy breaking his senses at the same time from disappointment about his encounter with his brother to be a dream but happy to see his boyfriend looking so peaceful.

Luffy smiled and carefully escaped from Law's embrace. He prepared a meal for the two of them and breathed deeply. While waiting for the meal to be cooked, he hummed quietly and thought about his dream.

_It means friendship blossoming into romance_

Is that really what he feel for Law? Love? Isn't he supposed to hate him after all what he did to his loved ones? Isn't he supposed to condemn the demon back into hell? Isn't he supposed to be moving on with his life without the one who caused all his tragedies?

But Luffy knows Law better than that, he supposed. Law is caring, nice, kind, generous and vulnerable to those he cares. There are, of course, also times when he is mischievous, funny and naughty.

Law is an enigma.

Luffy had decided. And Luffy? Luffy is the moth drawn to Law's warmth. A warmth provided by fire. Dangerous but exhilarating. A deadly combination for Luffy, really. Because that's what attracts him the most.

Dangerous but exciting.

What about Torao, though? Is he attracted to Luffy as well? Or does he only feel sorry? Or maybe —

His thoughts was broken by a hug from behind. He jumped from his skin and felt his heart leave his mortal body. Luffy whirled around to face Law, who still has his arms wrapped around his waist and used to spatula in his hand to playfully spank Law's shoulders.

"Why did you do that!? You almost gave me heart attack!" Luffy halfheartedly scolded Law, who only nuzzled his face on Luffy's neck as a response while purring like a cat contentedly.

"I woke up and you're gone. I've had a very bad dream and I'm so scared it's for real." Law said after a while of purring and nuzzling his neck. Luffy's face softened and petted his hair.

"What happened? In your dream?" Luffy asked carefully, letting him know he did not have to answer his question.

A hum again, then, "I dreamt of a war, and you're in the middle of it. We were winning because you fought really well. Your friends are in there too, you know. And they fought just as well as you. And I saw myself fighting.... Doflamingo."

Luffy stilled, remembering who that man is. He waited for Law to continue but Law remained silent for some more until he felt a sob broke into the air and the shaking from Law's shoulders told him that Law is crying.

Luffy shushed him. "It's alright. It's only a dream."

"I know." Law quickly answered. "But that's not the scariest part. I saw that I'm losing and then you came to help me and fought him in my stead. One of my arms had been cut. And then I saw Kidd, he's running towards you and you're unaware of it. I screamed for you to warn you. But you didn't hear me. I screamed for everyone and anyone but my voice reached no one amidst the loud noises from the sounds of war. Or maybe I have no voice to release."

"Then what?"

"Then you managed to take down Doflamingo but... but Kidd had impaled a sword in your chest from the back. I stopped screaming. I felt all my energy deplete to scream. I felt like drowning and water quickly fill my lungs. I did not cry, too. I just stood there, watching life fade from your eyes."

Luffy smiled at the end of Law's narrating his dream and he hummed softly and moved slightly away to look into his eyes.

"That's too bad. I dreamt something else, you know. I did not remember much from it, but I saw Ace in the middle of a garden and he told me something about flowers." Luffy shared to make his partner feel good.

Law smiled. "That's nice."

"It is. Actually, I'm thinking about it just before you snuck behind my back, you bufoon!" Luffy said, laughing lightly.

Law had joined him and soon enough, their laughters had increased and the tension from earlier had vanished. Luffy felt good and Law had felt nice for the first time after the nightmare.

•••

Law had walked into the darkness of the hell, looking over the large expanse of the desolate land and lost souls. He felt so bothered by the dream or the _warning_ , as the little girl with Vivi had said in his dream. He wished for it to be a dream and wished that Kidd would not show himself today. After all, Kidd and him had been friends for a very, very long time. He can't just accuse Kidd because of a dream. He excused the demon's behavior as of late as shock to his bonding with a human.

But the girl, _Dharma_ , as Vivi introduced, claimed that if he did not heed her warning, the dream will turn into reality. And now, it is up to Law to decide whether to believe them or not.

Vivi.

Another of Law's dillema. Luffy's missing-in-action angel. He frowned at the implication that something might have had happened to Vivi and something big involving Luffy will happen soon. It was then Law had smiled to himself, although rather grimly, but at least glad for a distraction.

Law had to do something about that.

•••

He quickly teleported into Luffy's apartment, worry all over his features and his heart pounding nervously in his ribs after visiting another acquaintance that might have answers to his question.

His heart somersaulted when he saw the state of the apartment is in.

Luffy's room is in chaos. His drawers are opened and clothes are strewed everywhere. A picture frame is lying ominously beside the wall as if it's unceremoniously thrown into something. The wallpapers from Luffy's room had some scratches too and a what looks like a blood suspiciously sloppy cleaned in a hurry was painted on the floor.

Law quickly ran to the kitchen to the see it in the worse state as Luffy's bedroom. Utensils are lying everywhere and shattered glasses and plates are on the floor. The pans and other cooking equipments Luffy owned are all over the place. A smell of a gunpowder mysteriously dominating the room and Law's heart sinked into his stomach in despair.

"Luffy?" Law called out, panic vibrating into his voice and he ignored all the messes and strode towards the bathroom door, opening it in hopes to see Luffy but found none.

He ran to the living room, expecting the worse and saw that the room is miraculously clean and free from any of the chaos and damage the bedroom and kitchen had endure. His heart sinked further, thinking that the intruders must have gotten Luffy before he managed to reach the living room. He felt tears making it's way out of his eyes and he quickly shook himself awake.

He sat on the floor, calming himself down when he noticed a piece of paper in Luffy's handwriting sticked on top of a book.

He quickly ran and snatched the paper from the book, reading it over and over again.

_Meet me in an hour ;)_

Law repeatedly read the words, uselessly trying to make sense of it. He's sure that this is supposed to hint where is Luffy and Law's pretty sure that Luffy's not asking him to meet in his house. He frustratedly attempt to solve the riddle that Luffy left for him when it hit him.

Hour.

AR.

A.R.

Artemis Road.

On the cafe where Ace died.

Law crumpled the note in his hand and quickly ran with an inhuman pace to the cafe.

•••

Law frustratedly paced back amd forth in front of the closed cafe. He badly wanted to smashed something to release his frustration but reminded himself he is in his corporeal form, meaning every mortal can witness what he would do if he did something drastic.

He saw no sign of Luffy nor any clues as to Luffy's whereabouts. He already visited the hospital Sabo is checked in but did not saw Luffy there. He internally screamed at himself for leaving Luffy defenseless and all sorts of worst possible scenarios already invaded his mind.

That is when he saw a woman with mid-length midnight black hair walking towards him purposely, a sly smile on her lips. He stood straight and prepared himself to fight, feeling the wariness creep on every bones of his body.

"Trafalgar Law." The dark-haired woman said.

Law stood rigidly and decided to cut the chase. "You're supposed to be dead already, Nico Robin."

Robin smiled serenely. "So are you, Trafalgar-kun."

"Where's Luffy?"

Robin continued to stare at him as if sizing him up before looking up and speaking as if talking about the weather. "You put him in grave danger. None of us is happy with you."

"Where's Luffy?" he persisted, not really caring about their opinions at the moment.

Robin gave him a sideways glance and looked up again. "They already went ahead to Avalon."

Law took a deep breathe. "No."

The woman then looked him in the eyes, mischievously sparkling with mischief. Robin opened her mouth to say something but stopped and grabbed his hand, taking him along straight ahead.

•••

"But I don't want to be someone important!" Luffy exclaimed childishly to his friends who looked at him grimly.

"This is not something you can just say no, Luffy! This is fate at work!" Usopp declared, standing up against Luffy. This is not the first time he had an argument with Luffy and his stubbornness but this time Usopp is confident because he knows that he's right.

•••

Eustass Kidd cursed under his breath as his dagger missed Trafalgar Law again. They are now playing cat and mouse in the astral plane and he's been running out of patience as Law dodged another one of his daggers.

He glared at the back of the woman who runs side by side with Law. He snarled as he remembered how the pesky female snapped one of his subordinates bones when he went to kill Trafalgar's lover in his apartment.

Eustass saw the woman took something out of her pocket and say something impossible for him to heard towards Trafalgar. Law nodded at something the woman said and then stopped and turned towards him.

Kidd frowned but continued to dashed towards Trafalgar, his shoulder's broadening as he let his monster form take over. He saw Law do the same and horns protruded from Law's head. Then, like a bull attracted to the matador, Eustass charged towards Law.

Their horns met with a clash and dark smoke from the friction started to form between their heads. Law growled inhumanly at him and Kidd snarled, fangs flashing dangerously. They squared each other evenly and Kidd, with a sudden force, pushed Law and seized the opportunity to punch Law in his guts. Law reeled back in shock but quickly recovered and throw a punch in Eustass face that he barely dodged.

That is, when Law suddenly smiled smugly at him and he stopped. He looked around and saw the woman standing at an open portal.

"NOOOOOO! I WON'T LET YOU ESCAPE!" Kidd shouted in frustration and pounced towards Robin. Robin easily dodged and jumped straight to the portal. Law knocked his head at the side and throw him a good few meters away from them. Law ran back and turned around to follow after Robin.

Kidd crawled and held onto dear life at Law's left foot. Law tripped over and tried to shake him off to no avail. Kidd smiled victorously as he saw the portal starting to shrink off to Law's horror.

Law tried to shake him harder than before and Kidd grabbed both his hands and held them to the side. Law hissed at him and looked panickingly at the shrinking portal.

Then, in a flash, the portal closed.

•••

Robin stood in shock as the portal closed and no Trafalgar followed after her. All their hard work would come to waste. She only hope that Nami is handling Luffy well.

•••

Vivi ran side by side with Luffy as they searched the vicinity around Artemis Road for Law. After learning Law is in danger and is being hunted by Kidd, Luffy decided to slip away from.his friends no matter how much he had missed them. He just can't let Law to be... killed. However, Luffy had met Vivi while running away and introduced herself as his angel. His instincts told him that this girl is telling the truth so now they're searching for Law together.

Sweat poured down in his shirtless body as he hastily ran down the pavement of the empty street. Vivi's hair is being blown away and tendrils floated around her face as if caressing her profile tenderly. Small sounds from their footsteps echoed around the pavement until Vivi halted to a stop.

"Luffy." Vivi whispered in a hushed tone.

Luffy stopped running and mimicked her tone. " What?"

"He's been here. I can see the traces of his aura here. But it's faint."

Luffy's heart beat fast in his ribcage.

"What does it mean?" He asked Vivi.

"It could mean a lot. What did you say your friend told you?"

"Robin will fetch Law." Luffy answered quickly, tensed.

Vivi bit her lip and paused thoughtfully. After a while, she shook her head and smiled.

"I think I know where he could be."

•••

Law awoke with a loud groan and grabbed the side of his head. He looked around groggily at the unfamiliar place he found himself in. A movement at the corner of his vision caught his attention and he saw a figure towering over him.

"Trafalgar Law. It's a pleasure to meet you again."

Law blinked his eyes and focused at the shadowed figure of a woman facing him. All his nerves stood on high alert and he quickly tensed his body to defend in case the woman struck him down.

A ringing laugh that sounded like a glass being tinkled down rang across the room as the woman noticed her reaction and Law paused at the familiar voice he heard.

"My, my. Who would have thought that you would be directly involved in a legend that always fascinated me as a young angel, Law?"

"Viola?" Law asked hesitantly.

•••

"I knew it!" Vivi exclaimed joyfully and whirled to face Luffy. Luffy just looked at her confusedly and waited for her to elaborate.

"Viola must have sensed Kidd will attacked Law and your friend so she asked me to intercept you while the business she said she will attend was to help your friend and Law make it safely to Avalon."

Luffy did not really understand and all this supernatural stuff is starting to make him question his sanity seriously so he just nodded dazedly at Vivi's explanation to at least show her he listened.

Vivi must have noticed Luffy's inner turmoil and smiled. "It's all going to work out. I would never leave you again."

Luffy smiled at her gratefully. "This feels weird."

"What do you mean?"

"All this stuffs... it changed me. Normally, I won't need others for comfort." Luffy explained and gave her a tight smile.

Vivi laughed. "It's going to turn out okay, Luffy. Fate is with your side, even if heaven and hell don't."

Luffy grinned at her and regain some of his cheerfulness. "Geez. What a pain."

"So, are you ready to see Law again?"

"I am."

•••

"I can't believe this shit." Law groaned.

"Me, too. Though I wouldn't call it a shit." Viola said and chuckled at her playfully then she shifted in her chair and turned serious once again. "You need to rally as much allies as you can, Law."

"I know. I think I'll go back in hell and try to gather as much as I can, and maybe give Kidd a punch that will knock him out for the next two hundred thousand years or so."

"Then, it's settled. I'll escort you back to hell after we meet Vivi and Luffy and fill them on in the plan. Meanwhile, as we gather allies from hell, then I'll gather allies from heaven and Luffy and his friends will gather allies from Avalon."

Law chuckled darkly. "Do you think the Elders are aware already of everything?"

His companion shrugged carelessly. "Maybe. They're Elders, after all. Besides, they're the who ordered Vivi to step away from Luffy. They want you to kill Luffy, then. So maybe they're all already aware who is Luffy before all of this mess."

"Please do remind me again, Elders are supposed to be Angels, too."

Viola dusted an imaginary dust on her lap. "They are. But over time, they became corrupted. Kinda like Satan."

"I still can't believe of all this shit."

Viola sighed. "Here's the thing, Law. I'm not a big fan of the Elders, too. Nor the Principals. As you became older and meet those in higher ranks, you'll realize more that Heaven is just as corrupted as Hell, if not more. But they're not all bad there. It's just that maybe there's a glitch or something in the system when God created everything so some things turned out bad. So I don't really appreciate you calling my brothers and sisters _shit_. And I'm helping you because I want Heaven to be purged of the bad angels, too. Because that's what the Prophet told me. All Heaven and Hell will be purged and then reunited as one after this war if you win and —"

Whatever Viola would say next was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Viola paused and moved across the small hut then opened the door.

Law take in a deep breath and quickly stood up from his chair. A blur passed Viola and bounded in Law's arms.

"Torao!"

THE END.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And...... CUT!
> 
> First of all, I wanna tell you all that I've been so busy with school and everything so I've been inactive in Tumblr and writing in general. I did my college paper and all other graduating stuffs. I also compete in a regional competition which I unfortunately lost. Hahaha.
> 
> About the ending, that's actually everything there's it to the story. If you look closely for clues, I've dropped hints about how their lovestory will end. I actually wrote Here's the Thing just for laughs and I did not expect this to take this long. Shout out to all who read and waited for me to update. Thank you so much!
> 
> So yeah. If you still have questions, suggestions or comments, feel free to drop in.

**Author's Note:**

> LawLu action next chapter! Have a nice day, everyone! :)


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